Soul Matrix
by Ginriku
Summary: He had three sealing matrices scattered across his worn out body. The soul of one of his most precious people sealed in each. Sakura across his ribs, Sasuke on his collarbone, and Shikamaru on his heart. 'Don't worry kit, we'll save them this time. You won't have to worry about being alone ever again.' Time Travel
1. Prologue: Terminus

Author's Note: Hey everyone! I doubt anyone will remember me but I have posted here on before. That was a loooong time ago tho and have gone to university in between. Fortunately I now have time to have hobbies again and have gotten back into the fandom with this idea bouncing around in my head recently.

Without further ado:

* * *

Soul Matrix

Prologue

Terminus

* * *

The acrid stench of burnt bodies covered the wasteland of what was the last camp of survivors of the fourth Great Shinobi War. After the defeat of Kaguya the world had rejoiced, however crushing reality reared its ugly head a scant two years later.

Forces scattered in the assumed peace, the goddess began her assault; shinobi village by shinobi village fell until there were naught but a few groups of the most elite left to oppose her. Among those, were mainly shinobi from the leaf which had gained a few days warning from Kumo of the coming destruction. Iruka, on an information exchange mission, managed to send back word before succumbing to the goddess.

That was eighteen months ago and now the massacre was finally over.

They had lost.

The fighting had dwindled as hope abandoned their numbers. They had given a mighty push about a month ago which resulted in over half of their remaining forces being lost, this morning they lost the remainder.

A lone figure remained on the battle field, his final rage had driven off Kaguya for the moment but he was sure that she would be back by sunrise. His matted blonde hair stuck to his face, over-long and clumped in blood that was a mixture of both his and others. Unable to stand, he was slouched by the side of his brother in all but blood, Sasuke, as the raven's last breath left his body. A sealing matrix lit up across his right clavicle as he drew a shaking hand away from his brother's heart.

' **That's it, kit. We can only take whom we have now and even that is pushing it.'**

The deep voice of the Kyuubi no Yoko rumbled through his consciousness as his azure gaze swept across the barren red landscape looking for any other survivors in the setting sun.

' _There's no one left Kurama, I couldn't save anyone else.'_

' **It's alright kit, you will. We just have to complete the seal and you can save everyone.'**

It was an impossible scheme thought up between him and Shikamaru months ago, back when there were still lulls between skirmishes that lasted longer than a week.

' _Shikamaru-…'_

Naruto rubbed the seal matrix directly over his own heart as his vision swam, his lover was the first he had cast his seal on. His soul was now bound to his. As was Sakura's and now finally Sasuke's. He was too late to save Kakashi, and he didn't have the matrix developed when Tsunade fell. For the majority he wasn't in the right place at the right time, most of his friends' deaths had been over too quickly for him to act to save their souls.

' **I only have enough power for the souls we have right now and ourselves Naruto. Saving more souls than this would have only made you have to choose.'**

Naruto could never choose between his friends, maybe it was better this way.

' _But if we had more time to prepare and gather energy-'_ **'NO!'**

The great beast interrupted, voice snarling. **' 'But if's' will not help us kit, there is no time to gather chakra and this opportunity will not happen again! Kaguya will return in a matter of hours and there is no time to waste!'** The great beast proceeded with a gentler tone, **'You will see them again Naruto, and you will have these three with you at least. You are doing all that you can.'**

Naruto let out a shuddering breath while wiping a hand across his eyes. _'You're right Kurama. Let's get to work.'_

The blonde struggled to his feet as the housed bijuu finished mending tendon and muscle. It took another moment before he was able to put weight on his right leg and begin walking. Limping, he finally made it to an untouched clearing some distance from the former camp just as the moon was approaching its highest zenith in the sky.

Soundlessly, he dropped to the ground and began tracing a large seal in the dirt. **'Quickly kit, the jutsu will be at it strongest when the moon is directly overhead.'** Kurama urged him on and he moved as fast as he could but his muscles ached in fatigue. It was all he could do to keep his hands moving to create the seal.

' _I'm trying Kurama, it's almost done.'_

The final touches were complete just as the moon shone overhead, bathing the clearing in crisp white light. Panting, Naruto crawled to the center of the seal and spoke for the last time while completing handseals, "I will save everyone this time. Jikan-maki modoshi no justu!"

The world around him was silent before a gale force wind picked up, whipping his hair around as a golden light spilled from beneath his skin. A moment later a flash of light was seen before the world faded to black.

The last shinobi left the scarred world with a tear dripping from his cheek as his body crumbled to dust. Nature herself apologized with a summoned a breeze that set the dust alight into the dark clouded sky.

* * *

Lips mashed together in a desperate dance has hands fumbled to remove clothing. A hastily erected sound barrier was all that stood between their tent and the rest of the camp listening in on their relations. Privacy had been a bit hard to come by since the return of Kaguya five months ago.

"Sh-shikamaru –" Naruto breathed out as the brunette roughly removed the blonde's shirt, placing searing kisses on the revealed skin. "Need you…"

Naruto had just been cleared from medical after a skirmish had forced there forces back and sent Kaguya on her way for the time being. She was still weak but gaining power every day. For now, she was planning her battles carefully and retreating when necessary, leaving time for recovery for the remaining shinobi.

Finally, his pants were removed and Naruto began working on divesting Shikamaru of his remaining clothing. Shikamaru hummed in response, nipping gently on Naruto's throat while coaxing him into a more comfortable position. "I'm here Naru." Was the rasped response as Shikamaru reached between their bodies, resulting in a joining for the two shinobi.

Ten minutes later found the two lovers panting in each other's arms, content for the moment. Since the return of Kaguya, both men had felt the need to reassure themselves and each other that they were both alive. Naruto in particular was shaken, he had been so sure that he and Sasuke had rid the world of any last trace of the vengeful goddess.

Blue eyes turned to take in the sight of free falling brown hair on the pillow beside him before tracing the strands up to the eyes of the man next to him. Shikamaru was staring back at him, eyes roaming over his face, tracing his whisker marks, seemingly in an attempt to memorize every facet of his visage.

"Shika?"

Brown eyes snapped to blue, "Naruto? What's wrong?"

Naruto let out a sigh and reached over to run a thumb along Shikamaru's cheekbone. Pressing a kiss to his lips, he began, "Is there anything we could have done to prevent this Shika? We were so sure she was gone."

Shikamaru gathered the blonde closer into his arms, "I don't know Naru. Maybe if we had stopped her from being resurrected in the first place…" His fingers carded through growing blonde hair, "But there is no point in thinking about that, love. We can't go back in time."

Naruto sighed into the embrace, the answer never changed. "I know Shika. Love you." He mumbled while beginning to drift off to sleep.

"Love you too, Naruto."

Naruto blinked one last time before sleep overtook him.

But – why couldn't they go back in time?

* * *

Naruto's chest heaved as he burst into the main strategy tent. "I did it! Guys, I did it!"

Sasuke and Sakura looked up from their maps, with a slight pang Naruto realized again that Shikamaru wasn't there to look up as well. He unconsciously rubbed his chest where the seal was placed.

"Did what Naruto?" Sakura looked from Sasuke's face to his as if he knew something.

He had kept this quiet, just between him and Kurama in case is didn't work. But his hard work had paid off. It was nearly a month short of a year since Shikamaru had given him the idea that day in their tent and five months since he had lost Shikamaru himself. The idea had festered in his mind for almost a week until he brought it up to the ancient beast.

Kurama had been contemplative and undecided at first but hadn't said no. Three days later he had come up with the idea that they had been working on for the past eleven months. It was finally ready.

"I finished my time seal, once we gather enough nature chakra we can go back in time and stop this mess from ever happening!"

Naruto's eyes were the brightest they had seen in weeks, full of the same optimism that had shone at the end of the last war.

Sakura's voice shook as she reached for Sasuke's hand. For once he allowed the contact in public, he was also a bit rattled by the proclamation.

"What do you mean Naruto? Isn't that sort of thing impossible? What about everyone left here?"

"I've been working on the seal with Kurama for almost a year. With it, I can bring people back with me to the past, even–" he pressed a hand to Shikamaru's seal again before continuing "and we can stop all of this from happening. If we go back far enough we might even be able to stop the massacre from ever happening." Hopeful eyes looked towards his brother, "Sasuke?"

Sasuke's mismatched eyes had widened, breath caught in his throat. His family might be saved? His aniki? He tightened his grip on Sakura's hand in his. He would be able to introduce his wife to his mother. Such things he had not dreamed about since he was a boy.

"Naruto, you are sure this will work?"

Naruto's panting subsided and he straightened and advanced farther into the tent, "It should. Once we gather enough nature chakra and wait for a full moon I should be able to send our consciousness, our souls, back to our younger bodies. I think going back to when we are five would be about as far as we can go. Depending on how much time we have to collect chakra and the number of people."

To be truthful it was as good of a plan as any, their numbers dwindled daily and hope had died from everyone's eyes. Sakura spoke up, "Let's do it, Naruto." The remainder of the original team seven shared one last grin as a team. They finally had a plan again.

* * *

Sakura didn't live past the next forty-eight hours.

She died in Sasuke's arms in the agonizing battle that devastated half of their forces. However, her soul was safely sealed in the matrix burning across Naruto's ribcage. She would be coming with them to the past.

A scant month was barely enough time to generate the amount of nature chakra required but it would have to do.

Kaguya was coming.

And tonight was the night of the full moon.

* * *

Author's Note: So what do you think? Worth continuing?

Please R&R!


	2. Chapter 1: Dysphoria

**A/N:** Well I've gotten a descent response to the prologue so I suppose I will continue with this fic. There are several surprises in store for you this chapter as I set up the frame work. I hope you like it as there is a bit more going on here than meets the eye.

"talking"

 _'thinking'_

 **'Kurama talking'**

 _ **'Kurama thinking'**_

* * *

Soul Matrix

Chapter 1

Dysphoria

* * *

Inhaled dust cause Naruto to cough violently as he staggered over to a pair of pink and black haired heads.

"Sasuke, Sakura, are you guys –" he was cut short as he finally took in the sight of his two best friends and teammates. A small "No" escaped his lips as he fell to his knees beside them.

Sakura was missing a large chunk of flesh out of the left side of her torso as her hyakugou seal began to fade to nothingness. The massive chakra stored in the seal was not enough to keep up with the wounds she had sustained. Sakura was dying.

"Sasuke, i-is she..?"

Silent tears mixed with blood ran down the last Uchiha's face, his right eye returned to the original flat black. "Not quite. But I can't save her, there's nothing I can DO!" His last word was punctuated by a weak fist lodging itself into the ground and forming a small impression to the right of Sakura's battered body. "S-she took the last hit for me as I was readying an attack." His voice faded towards the end as if he still couldn't believe what had happened. Why did his family always have to die?

Naruto's breath hitched as he reached a hand forward to touch Sakura, "Sasuke I can-" He was cut off with a snarl from the raven as he jerked his wife's body towards him a bit more. His actions reminded him of a wounded animal protecting their pack from a threat.

' **Gently, kit.'**

Naruto headed Kurama's advice as he began again in a lower gentler tone, "I can seal her soul Sasuke, she will come with us yet." His eyes bored into his brothers' mismatched pair. Trying desperately to convey his intentions to the grief stricken man, "Like I sealed Shikamaru. You'll have her again. I promise."

The words seemed to finally reach Sasuke as the man visibly deflated and backed away from the rapidly declining pinkette. Cautiously, Naruto reached out and covered her unseeing green eyes with his hand. Golden chakra swirled and mixed with the green nature chakra Naruto was pulling out of the air as the blonde began chanting in a low tone.

Sasuke was unable to catch the words coming from his brother's mouth, too focused on the last wisp of Sakura's chakra that was dangerously close to burning out. But as he watched, that small flame flickered a tad brighter as it moved up towards her eyes and finally into Naruto's hand. Naruto made a final seal with his free hand before exclaiming "Sealing art: Sōru Kyaria no jutsu!" Sasuke watched as the flicker of chakra raced up the blonde's arm and spattered in a delicate looking seal across his ribs.

Naruto panted, "I got her Sasuke, just in time."

Sasuke let go of Sakura with one hand to grasp Naruto's upper arm, "Thank you." The raven then tucked a strand of pink hair behind a delicate ear before continuing, "She'll be happy to see us on the other side."

Naruto gave a weak smile as he got his breath under control, "I'm sure she will."

' _How long Kurama, I don't think we can hold out much longer.'_

The devastation surrounding them was not unlike previous hard battles they had fought in before. However, this time Kaguya had attacked with very little warning and her attacks were harsher and swifter than previously. She was getting stronger.

' **Patience kit, we just have to hold out for the next full moon. I should have gathered enough chakra by then.'**

' _Enough for the five of us at least?'_ Him, Kurama, Shikamaru, Sakura, and Sasuke. Plus anyone else they could convince, hopefully.

' **I'm doing my best kit. This has never been done before.'**

' _I know Kurama… Thank you.'_

* * *

' **Wake up kit!'**

Naruto groaned as the Kyuubi growled.

' **NOW!'**

The blonde pitched off the bed and onto the floor. A sticky tongue tried to wet equally dry cracked lips.

' **Get up! You have to move! If you don't find the Uchiha within the next two hours, we're both dead!'**

That got the blonde to their feet and stumbling towards the door, eyes bleary and hair unkempt. Movement, movement was needed. Death bad.

' _Huh? Wha? Kurama? Whazz goin' on?'_

' **I'll tell you when you get your ass out the door. Just get dressed and try to find that blasted Uchiha!'**

Naruto struggled to the closet, still groggy and disoriented from the abrupt wake up call. Why did everything feel like it was on fire? Every breath ached and crackled, every joint creaked. The door to the closet was opened and foggy blue eyes gazed inside.

' _Huh? What's wrong with my clothes? They're for-'_

' **Quickly Naruto! We can figure this out later!'**

Two minutes later the jinchuuriki was racing through the twilight lit village. Sense pressed to the max attempting the find the raven haired boy.

Naruto gasped for breath while bouncing from roof to roof. This younger body wasn't able to keep up with the massive strain being put on it.

' _Why is the drain so much? Also I'm much taller than I was at five. How old am I Kurama?'_

The bijuu paced back and forth in Naruto's mindscape, the obvious irritation rolling off of the mighty beast in waves. Strain could be clearly seen along the Kyuubi's neck and back, all the way to the tip of each of his nine crimson tails.

' **We miscalculated kit.'** He snapped out, every word a struggle to project, **'We didn't take into consideration the drain the soul matrices would have on your younger underdeveloped body. If we had gone any further back, we would have died instantly. To protect us, the seal dropped us here. As it stands, if we don't release one of the seals within the next two or so hours we will died regardless.'** Tails swished as a ripple of pain ran through his figure, **'Maybe less time.'** He proceeded softer, **'You are ten years of age by my estimates kit.'**

Naruto's eyes searched wildly for any trace of the Uchiha. Ten, they were ten. Naruto pitched and changed directions to head to the docks. Sasuke was often alone by the docks at that age. Along because-

The blonde gasped, "Sasuke." _'Oh no, the massacre!'_

' **We tried kit. We always knew that there was a risk it wouldn't turn out right.'**

' _Not right? Everything about this has been messed up so far Kurama!'_

' **I know but keep running. How much further are the docks?'**

A bridge flew underneath the jinchuuriki but each passing step was slightly slower than the one previous.

' _Five minutes hopefully'_

The Kyuubi slipped off his paws in the mindscape, landing in the dirty water of the once again sewer as he choked out a response.

' **Hurry-'**

Naruto pushed the small ten-year old body to its limits, relying on the muscle memory to keep balance as the docks grew ever closer. Seven agonizing minutes later the lake came into view

A tiny black haired boy sat on the edge of the pier.

* * *

Without losing momentum, Naruto landed on the pier and launched for the boy. The small Uchiha barely had time to turn around and emit small squeak before a hand shot out to cover his eyes.

"Sealing art: Sōru Kyaria no Jutsu, Reverse!"

Naruto just caught the boy before he hit the ground, knocked out by the sudden release of the seal.

' _Please work. Please work. Please work!'_

Naruto chanted while huffing down beside the prone figure.

' _I hope no one is around to see this.'_

' **Relax kit. We are alone and we can move to a better location when he comes around.'**

' _Oh thank Kami, Kurama. You weren't sounding too good there.'_

' **It'll take more than that to get rid of me.'**

The Kyuubi grumbled as he got back to his feet, tails swishing in annoyance and pain.

' **However, you only have about two days before you need to release another seal.'**

The blonde nodded, eyes fixated on the now twitching form of the raven.

' _Not much time, but enough. Probably Sakura next.'_

Naruto shuffled over and leaned until their heads were directly on top of each other. However, Naruto wasn't prepared for the onyx eyes to fly open or for the boy to violently sit up, bashing their foreheads together with a painful smack.

"Ow! Dobe! What the fuck?!"

Sasuke froze. Where were they? Why did everything seem bigger? Why was the blonde, reeling in pain next to him, so tiny? He looked down at himself. Why was he so tiny?

"Dobe." He growled out, "What is going on? Are we dead?"

A painful headshake later, Naruto ground out, "No. I'll explain soon, but first: Where did you live when you were ten?"

Seeing the raven's baffled look, the blonde tried again, "Quickly! Think!"

Sasuke frantically looked around, spurred by his teammates tone, until he finally recognized where they were. This time in his life was buried deep within his memories.

"In an apartment not far from here."

"Great, let's go."

Naruto winced while attempting to stand, only to fall back down with a thud and a grunt. "Ugh. Could you carry me by chance?"

* * *

They stumbled into the Uchiha's apartment twenty minutes later. There had been some difficulty in getting Naruto upright and moving. But soon the blonde was deposited on the couch in front of the coffee table, just about ready to begin explaining.

"Sasuke, can I have some ink and paper?"

Wordlessly, the raven searched around his living room and set the desired items on the table. He then turned to his kitchen to begin making tea for the two of them. Funny how even after almost ten years he could still remember the exact layout of this place. Memory is a strange thing.

Meanwhile, Naruto shakily wrote an advanced privacy seal and activated it after sticking it to the wall behind the couch. "There, no one can see or hear inside this room."

Sasuke dropped down a mug of steaming tea and rice balls in front of the obviously exhausted and weak jinchuuriki before claiming the chair across the table. "Well I suppose we should get started. I presume that we are back in the past now. What happened?"

Naruto let out a sigh, "For me, you died approximately eight hours ago. I quickly did a seal on your soul like I did for Sakura and Shikamaru and immediately went to the clearing we had chosen for the jutsu. I was exhausted and barely had the stamina to draw the seal. But here we are. We didn't go back as far as I had planned though. We are approximately ten years old."

Sasuke let out a breath he didn't realise he had been holding. His clan was still gone. They wouldn't be able to save them after all. The blue eyes of his teammate boring into his, all of the sorrow he was feeling were reflected in those eyes, also seeking an apology for a reason he couldn't fathom. He knew that Naruto and Kurama had tried, something probably happened to prevent them from going back further.

"Do you know why we only went back this far?"

Naruto looked down at the mug before looking back into Sasuke's eyes, "Kurama thinks it has something to do with the strain put on my younger body by the soul matrices. If we went back further, we would have died instantly. As it was, we only had a few minutes left -maybe ten at the most- if I hadn't found you when I did." Blue eyes closed, if only he had more chakra. "I'm sorry Sasuke. I –"

"Don't apologize!"

Naruto looked up startled. Sasuke's eyes were blazing a fully developed sharingan. "You have already done the impossible, dobe. And have given us the most amazing gift we could have ever received, at least I can still save Itachi. My aniki is still alive. That is more than enough."

Once again, Sasuke's growth and recovery since returning from being a missing-nin amazed the blonde. This second chance at his youth could only bring more positive things for the former avenger. Former avenger who spoke again, "Also, what strain are you talking about? You never mentioned a draw back about the soul matrix before."

Naruto chose to eat one of the rice balls and drink some tea before replying. Sasuke was going to be angry. "Well the soul matrix takes a large amount of chakra to sustain. And price increases exponentially with each additional soul you have sealed. I think this is because I had to base it on the Hakke no Fūin Shiki, which requires a soul sacrifice, that it uses so much. I couldn't find a way around the chakra cost."

"How much chakra exactly?"

Naruto swallowed, "About as much as the average jonin's reserves… per day."

Sasuke's eyes bulged. That was an unbelievable amount of chakra, and he had been carrying around Shikamaru's soul for almost six months. For a ten-year old body to sustain even one of those seals was ludicrous, let alone the two that the blonde still had on. No wonder they needed to get the third off as fast as they did.

"You fucking idiot." First Sasuke was furious but then he laughed, "Only you Naruto. Anyone else would be dead before they even finished the seal and you whip out your third at the end of the battle for our lives like it's nothing… Un-fucking-believable."

Now Sasuke was laughing? Did something weird happen during the seal reversal?

' **Kit.'**

' _Yeah Kurama?'_

' **During the seal reversal, you severed the links between your souls too quickly. Some of your soul went with him and a bit of his stayed. That is probably the reason for his newfound 'light-heartedness'. Luckily, right now it seems like the changes are limited to slight personality quirks only.'** The Kyuubi stared at the traces left behind by the reversed seal in his section of mindscape. Naruto would have to clean that up. **'However, I think if you went slower during the other reversal this could probably be prevented. The soul intertwining is likely more severe though.'**

Sasuke noticed the harshly sucked in breath Naruto drew, "What is it?"

Naruto hesitantly relayed the information Kurama communicated. "I didn't know that would happen. And I-I don't know how to fix it on your end. Perhaps a Yamanaka…"

The raven sighed and shook his head, "It's fine Naruto. Honestly, I should probably thank you. I feel lighter now than I can ever remember. Just try to take a bit more time with Sakura. Deal, dobe?"

Naruto grinned, the first since coming back to the past, "Deal, teme."

He caught the blonde's azure eyes once again, "But one last thing: Why do I now have a sister instead of a brother? Naruto- _chan?_ "

* * *

 **A/N:** Did anyone see that coming? I have recently found a love for fem!Naru and wanted to explore it a bit. So whatcha think?

Also does anyone have any requests for flashbacks during or before the second coming of Kaguya? I think I'll try starting each chapter with a scene until I run out of ideas.

Sōru Kyaria no jutsu = Soul Carrier Technique

Hakke no Fūin Shiki = Death Reaper seal (the one that holds the kyuubi)

I hoped you liked it!

R&R!


	3. Chapter 2: Amaranth

**A/N:** I realise I took many people off guard with the last chapter. That was indeed my intention, I like surprises in the stories I read so I tried to put that in my fic. There should be no further life altering surprises for quite a while if that helps anyone.

A note of warning: I know approximately zero things about wedding ceremonies, my many apologies in advance.

"talking"

 _'thinking'_

 **'Kurama talking'**

 _ **'Kurama thinking'**_

* * *

Soul Matrix

Chapter 2

Amaranth

* * *

Sakura stared at herself in the mirror. She had dreamed about this day when she was a little girl, and had subsequently given up on that dream in her adolescence. Yet here she was, her wedding day. Marrying Sasuke Uchiha; brooder, avenger, troubled, but being redeemed. It was obvious to her that he was still struggling to accept both what he himself had done as well as the actions of his brother and clansmen. It was an uphill battle that would face together.

It was completely out of the blue when Sasuke proposed to her. They hadn't even been dating. The raven had shown up at her door one night about two months ago, around a year after the defeat of Kaguya.

"Marry me." His low but firm voice reawakened the dream within her. She hadn't even hesitated.

"Yes."

She was wearing her pajamas with her hair in a messy bun, ready for bed. He was sweaty and dirty with a cut bleeding above his eye. It wasn't fancy or romantic but after all they had been through it was right for them.

She later found out that he had been sparring with Naruto before he came to her house and apparently the blonde had convinced him to take action. She still hadn't found out what was said.

She lifted a hand to apply once last coat of powder to her face before deciding she was ready. She gave herself a grin, she was going to be Sakura Uchiha soon!

It was funny to think that the entirety of their romantic relationship had occurred within the last two months. After she had cleaned him up on the night of his proposal he had stayed. They had spent their first night together, exploring how this might work. In the morning Sasuke had admitted that it was the best night of sleep he had gotten in months, maybe years.

He kissed her goodbye in the morning after breakfast and she didn't see him for almost a week. Sakura almost thought she had dreamed the whole thing but when he returned he gave her a ring. His mother's engagement ring. She cried and hugged him for a full five minutes before he started to squirm. She's positive he enjoyed it despite his protests.

Ino entered her room where she had been getting ready, "Ready, Forehead?"

The genuine happiness apparent in her best friend's eyes lifted her ever higher. It was time.

"You got it, Pig!"

They had both agreed that a small ceremony was for the best, only Ino, Naruto, Tsunade, and her parents were there as witnesses. They managed to convince Kakashi-sensei to conduct the ceremony. Both of their most precious people were there, it was perfect.

Ino entered the room ahead of her, she closed her eyes and followed a moment later. When her eye opened again all she could see was Sasuke, dressed in a formal grey and navy haori and hakama set, Uchiha fan embroidered on the collar. His black hair had grown longer in the past year to better hide his rinnegan left eye, but it was pushed back for the occasion. He was breath taking. His right eye was also blazing red with the sharingan. Sakura couldn't contain a wider grin. It seemed like someone didn't want to forget the moment either.

"Hi." Sakura smiled sweetly when she reached her husband-to-be.

"H-" Sasuke had to pause and clear his throat before continuing, "Hi."

For the entire ceremony they barely looked away from each other, nothing else existed for them. A light blush graced both of their cheeks by the time they set down the last cup for the san san kudo. Kakashi cleared his throat before uttering his last line of the ceremony.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!"

Sasuke cupped her face with one hand as he leaned in. His lips were warm and dry as they shared their first kiss as a married couple.

' _Today is perfect.'_ Sakura thought as she opened her eyes after the kiss, finally taking in the faces of their loved ones around them. It seemed like everyone had tears in their eyes and wide smiles across their faces. Except Kakashi-sensei, though she strongly suspected that he had used a quick genjutsu to hide the wetness in his eyes.

Sakura once again took in the mismatched eyes of her husband and his gentle smile. Today was the best day of her life.

* * *

Sasuke stared at the fidgeting blonde across the table from him. She – definitely a she, not a he like he was supposed to be – ran a hand through her hair. It was longer than he had ever seen on Naruto (not that that was saying much, he usually kept it pretty short), it was almost chin length all the way around and in complete disarray, probably from the mad dash to get to him.

"Well?"

It was strange seeing his brother -sister- like this but it was real. The brief moment he had his sharingan activated had proved that. And she was so tiny! Was Naruto as small at ten in his original body?

"I'm not sure, I-" The blonde's eyes glazed over suddenly, he presumed that Kurama was likely talking to him – her. Dammit that would take some getting used to.

A moment later proved his assumption correct when Naruto again spoke.

"Kurama thinks it might have something to do with the fact that we were dropped five years short of our target. He thinks a tendril of chakra may have gone back first to 'test the waters' so to speak to see if the time was viable as an anchor point for the jutsu. Since the time we specified wasn't possible it searched for the first possible instance of survival, starting at conception apparently." Naruto took a breath before continuing, "Seals are dumb, they only do what you write into them which is why space-time seals are so tricky. If they encounter a case that hasn't been accounted for they tend to do strange things." She gestured to herself, "This is the side effect this time, we're lucky it didn't end with us all dying… or worse."

Sasuke didn't ask what worse was, seals were Naruto's area and he was quite happy to stay out of it.

"Now what though? Are you stuck like that?"

Naruto nodded and rubbed one blue eye, damn he -she- was tired. "In this case our jutsu changed time since the moment of my conception, resulting in me being a girl, even if we ourselves didn't arrive until right now. So according to this timeline; I've always been a girl."

Sasuke just sat for a moment taking it all in. There was no turning him back then, there was nothing to undo. Might as well move on, they would get used to it eventually he supposed.

"How long until you have to reverse another seal?"

"About two days I think. We should go Sakura next, her soul won't be as enmeshed as Shikamaru's. We just need to get her somewhere alone without arousing suspicion."

Sasuke 'Hn'd' in agreement, mind whirling, coming up with different scenarios, "I can approach her at the academy. If I slip her a note she should go wherever we want." He would never have believed that he would one day use his wife's former excessive fangirling to accomplish something but here he was. The irony.

They both stayed talking for another few minutes before it was obvious that Naruto was fighting to stay awake.

Sasuke huffed, "Come on dobe, you can sleep here tonight."

She tried to protest a few times before giving in, "Fine, just remember to wake me up early tomorrow morning. I want a shower too."

Sasuke simply grumbled in acquiescence while shoving her into his room with a spare pair of pajamas before getting comfy on the couch himself. He had a lot to think about before he would be able to sleep tonight.

* * *

The morning was another debacle for the time traveling duo.

"Arrrrgghhh! How the fuck do girls get their hair to look good?! This is impossible!" Naruto spat while hurling the comb into the sink. The glare levelled at the poor piece of plastic would have made lesser men shit themselves in fright.

Sasuke calmly came around the corner from where he was making a nutritious breakfast of rice omelets and fried tomato. "Here, dobe."

In less than thirty seconds Sasuke had somewhat tamed her hair and pinned half of her bangs to each temple. "There."

Naruto sputtered before adopting a sly grin as the raven walked back to the kitchen, "Oh and you can cook, how utterly _domestic_ of you."

Immediately a wooden spoon flew around the corner to smack her directly in the face, "Fuck off, dobe."

She could barely contain her snickers despite nursing a fading red spot on her forehead. Naruto then sighed while looking at his -her- reflection one last time. Sasuke had managed to find a spare white shirt and green shorts with no Uchiha symbol on them for her. They were a tad big but that was the least of their worries.

' _How the hell am I supposed to be a girl? I have no idea what I'm doing.'_

' **Do you really think growing up as a girl would have changed your personality all that much kit? Just act like you normally would.'**

' _Fair, thanks Kurama. I think I needed that.'_

Naruto then joined Sasuke in the kitchen for breakfast before they would separately leave for the academy.

"So you'll hand Sakura-chan the note just before class starts in the afternoon to meet her here after school is done for the day. I'll hang back after class and delay her a bit so she won't be able to try walking with you. Then I'll run ahead and meet you here before she shows up to get ready."

Sasuke nodded, he was eager to get her back. It had been a long month without his wife. When he closed his eyes he could still picture her on their wedding day. She had been breathtaking in her pink trimmed white kimono, the sakura petals of her namesake patterned across her pastel green obi. And she had been for him and he will have her again by sunset. His patience would be sorely tried by the intervening portion of the day.

* * *

Entering the academy was rather emotional for the pair but they managed to keep it together enough to avoid suspicion.

Naruto stared around at his -her- classmates, they were all alive! It really hit her for the first time that they were really back in time. They could save everyone; things really could change. She caught sight of a familiar pineapple spiked head and her breath caught in her throat. Shika was alive too. It was such a relief to see the lazy bastard again. He -she- just hoped that he would accept him -her- as she was now. Naruto quickly averted her eyes before tears could threaten to spill.

' _No! We'll figure it out somehow. At least we can still be friends if this does drive a wedge between us.'_

Kurama grumbled from deep within her mind, **'If the bastard doesn't want you because of something like this then he wasn't a good enough mate for you anyway.'** He snarled wetly, **'You'll be a strong, beautiful vixen when you grow and any male would be lucky to have you. The ungrateful, lazy, piece of-'**

' _Thank_ _you Kurama.'_ Naruto sighed, _'I am well aware of your thoughts about Shikamaru.'_

' **And I am aware of how you love him anyway, stubborn kit.'**

' _That I do Kurama, that I do.'_

Naruto turned her gaze back towards Shikamaru's hair only to find his dark eyes looking back at her, pink dusting his young cheeks.

' _Maybe it will be okay.'_

Kurama continued to grumble from within.

* * *

Sasuke had a slightly easier time entering the academy than Naruto. He hadn't been as close to his classmates and as such didn't feel their deaths as acutely as his brother –sister dammit– had and still does.

However, none of that prepared him for the moment when a familiar head of pink hair rounded the door frame and entered the classroom. His memory of that same pink hair jumping in front of him and taking the devastating blow flashed before his eyes. His chest tightened and he had to quickly turn his head to look out the window as the images and emotions of her death kept rolling over him in waves. He wasn't sure if he would ever forgive himself for that moment.

After a few minutes his breathing regulated and he was able to turn back to the room. Naruto caught his eyes and levelled him with a concerned look, eyes always more expressive than advised. He nodded before letting his eyes settle back on the form of his tiny wife, currently bickering with Ino about something ridiculous. They would get her back today; he wasn't going to wait a moment longer than necessary.

* * *

The day seemed to drag on, the only respite being lunch when he stole away with Naruto for lunch at Ichiraku. His new sister being over the moon but also shaking with sorrow at seeing Teuchi and Ayame once again. The raven frowned slightly, the old man seemed a bit too overjoyed to see Naruto there with a friend. _'Why?'_

After lunch the two time travellers decided to sit next to each other, figuring that the class would have to get used to their new personalities eventually. They were already sending Naruto weird looks, presumably Naruto's original female self from this time acted just as rambunctious and disruptive as the blonde he grew up with. It was comforting to know that that was constant at least.

The afternoon drew by slowly but finally it was time to put their plan into motion. Sasuke had slipped Sakura the note shortly after lunch. She had turned bright red but didn't say a word when Ino asked what was wrong with her. Perfect.

* * *

As their sensei called a close to the day Sasuke quickly slipped out the door before Sakura could get up from her seat. Naruto also sprung into action running interference to let him slip away unhindered.

Five minutes after arriving home, the door opened once more to admit the out of breath blonde. Sakura would arrive in about ten minutes by his calculations, then he would have his wife back. The raven closed his eyes and breathed through his nose to try to settle the way his heart fluttered. He wasn't sure if it was out of fear or anticipation at this point.

He watched as Naruto settled herself onto the couch in a meditation position, she was going to go in to talk to the Kyuubi and work at loosening the bonding between her soul and Sakura's. Hopefully it wasn't ripped like his was.

' _I still can't believe that Naruto is a girl now. A girl. Aniki, we have a sister.'_ Sasuke watched Naruto for a few more moments to distract himself from the incoming Sakura. He noted the subtle differences between the male and female version of his best friend. The hair was a bit longer, just short of chin length and still pinned on both sides with the clips he had put in this morning. Her cheek bones were slightly higher, indicating that she might look a bit more like her father when she grew older than her male self. Aside from that he could barely tell a difference between his two selves, _'Funny, I didn't realise Naruto looked so girly.'_ Sasuke smirked at the statuesque girl before a knock on his front door brought him out of his musings.

Naruto's eyes snapped open at the sudden sound, she nodded to indicate that she was ready. Sasuke returned the nod and advanced to the door, if there was a tremor in his hand while turning the knob Naruto didn't mention it.

On the other side of his front door stood a pair of bright green eyes and pink hair, a light blush crossing the bridge of her nose.

"H-hi, Sasuke-kun." She greeted prettily.

Sasuke just stood there staring into those emerald green eyes that he had so desperately avoided all day. He must have made her slightly uncomfortable because she looked down at the floor before continuing. "Sasuke-kun? You, uh, invited me here today? In your note?"

Finally snapping out of his trance he slightly shook himself and moved to the side to let her in. "Uh, come in Tsu- Sakura-chan."

He heard a soft intake of breath as her blush intensified as she stepped over the threshold. However, that was also when she caught sight of Naruto sitting on the couch.

"What is SHE doing here?!"

And there was the banshee that he remembered from their genin days. Perfect.

Naruto frowned but stayed quiet to not lose concentration on Sakura's soul matrix, currently burning across her ribs. He -she- would get her back later.

"Naruto will be helping us with something."

Luckily that seemed to throw Sakura off as she deflated. "Help us?"

"Yeah, sit on the couch next to her and close your eyes. It's a surprise."

Although extremely suspicious Sakura did as she was asked by her crush. She didn't want to look uncool in front of Sasuke even if said boy wanted her to sit next to Naruto. Ugh!

She heard shuffling around the room before she felt a hand over her eyes but before she could react the rough yet feminine voice of Naruto came from beside her.

"Sealing art: Sōru Kyaria no Jutsu, Reverse!"

Sakura's world went black.

* * *

It took almost fifteen minutes for Sakura to show signs of waking. Sasuke had positioned himself on the floor near her head where they had laid her down on the couch. Naruto sat across from the couple in the chair Sasuke had occupied the previous night. She had finally caught her breath from releasing the seal, they would have almost two weeks before they would have to release the last one.

Slowly, Sakura's eyes opened and settled on Sasuke's face hovering above her own.

"Huh? What happened? Anata?"

"Uh-" Sasuke began.

She pushed herself up into a sitting and surveyed their surroundings. "Where are we?" Her eyes settled back on the far to young face of her husband and widened, "Are we dead?"

Naruto let out a barking laugh, why did everyone think they had died? "No Sakura-chan! At least not anymore." The blonde gave her friend a soft smile as the gears started working in her head.

"Y-you actually did it! We're back in time!" Sakura turned to look at Sasuke who still hadn't said anything beside her. "But what happened? The last thing I remember was-"

Sakura suddenly had her arms full of shaking ten-year old boy, knocking both of them back onto the couch.

"I-I'm sorry Tsuma."

At this point Naruto felt it was best to excuse him-her-self to make tea while the couple had their reunion. Sasuke never did like showing emotion with an audience.

While waiting for the kettle to boil the blonde examined the calendar pinned to the fridge.

' _Hmm, so it's September? Today was a Monday… the twelfth I think I overheard someone say in class…'_ Her eyes widened as she came to a realization, _'I'm still nine! My birthday is next month!'_

' **Hmm, it appears that I was slightly off in my assessment.'** Kurama added, **'At least this does give you some extra time.'**

Naruto hummed in agreement as she removed the boiling kettle from the burner. As she finished pouring the tea and arranging some fruit on a plate she began to hear noises of what sounded like normal conversation coming from the living room.

Supressing a yawn, she grabbed the tray and made her way back to her two best friends.

' _Well here goes nothing.'_

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura were both sitting on the couch when Naruto re-entered the room. She viewed their clasped hands as she set down the tray and sat back onto the chair. His -her- best friends were so adorable sometimes. However, judging from Sasuke's pinkish cheeks he was still slightly uncomfortable with this display of affection in his -her!- presence.

Naruto cleared her throat before breaking the silence. "So…? Has Sasuke caught you up to speed Sakura-chan?"

Blue eyes flicked back and forth between the too young faces and too old eyes.

"I think so Naruto. You managed to complete the time travel seal and carried our souls back with you." Her green eyes hardened, "And almost costed you your LIFE! Baka Naruto!"

At seeing her get up from her seat and stalk around the coffee table Naruto braced herself and scrunched up her eyes; prepared for the blow the pink haired girl would deliver.

Instead, Naruto felt a scuff on top of her head before arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Thank you, Naruto. We would all be lost without you." Sakura murmured into the blonde's ear before trying to let go. Naruto's arms had come up around her and was hanging on for dear life.

"S-sorry, Sakura-chan."

Naruto let out a shuddering breath and quickly removed her arms and brought a hand to her face to wipe away the tears that had somehow leaked out. "I'm just glad the seal worked and you're okay!"

Sasuke huffed from his seat across the room. "See what you did now Tsuma? The dobe crying!"

His comment broke the depressed aura in the room as Sakura began giggling and Naruto responded with indignant protests.

"Shut up Teme!"

They conversed with minimal emotional outbursts for the next half hour before a strange look overtook Sakura's face.

"Naruto… Are you a girl?"

Said girl's face turned beat red while Sasuke replied with a helpful 'Yup' in the background.

"It's a long story Sakura-chan."

But seeing that she wasn't going to let it go Naruto began the explanation.

Ten minutes later Sakura was nodding thoughtfully as Naruto finished her explanation. "I guess it could have been worse. Besides," A suspicious grin broke out across her face, "I always wanted a sister!"

' **They are made for each other kit.'**

' _You're tellin' me Kurama. At least the teme finally realised it when he did.'_

' **Only because you knocked some sense into him.'**

' _Damn straight.'_

* * *

A couple hours later the trio realised that the sun was starting to set. They also realised that Sakura would have to go home to her parents. To the rest of the world they were still ten-year-old's after all.

"I'll walk the both of you home then, come on." Sasuke insisted.

However, the closer they got to Sakura's parents house the more a feeling of dread settled into the pit of Naruto's stomach. Finally, taking it no longer, the blonde bounced away from the couple, "See you guys tomorrow!" and made a mad dash for her apartment, leaving the confused pair in her wake.

After arriving at her apartment Naruto leaned heavily on her front door.

' **You okay kit?'**

Naruto shook her head clear before replying to the great beast, _'Fine Kurama, I just did want to see their hateful faces yet.'_

Sakura's parents were never shy about their distaste for Naruto the first time around.

She felt Kurama's warm chakra settle around her like a blanket as she made her way to the bedroom.

' **It will be okay kit, you're not alone this time.'**

* * *

 **A/N:** Well… that actually turned out much longer than I thought it would be. And Sakura's awakening was surprisingly difficult to write. . Ah well.

Also, I will take your thoughts into consideration: Would you like longer chapters and have them come out less frequently or vice versa? A chapter every 2 weeks or so or 1 per week. You guys might get spontaneous chapters in between if inspiration strikes but I usually only get time to write on the weekend.

BTW: Tsuma = wife and Anata = Darling, I got the idea from a 'SasuSaku facts' meme I found on pinterest. I thought it was adorable and added it in.

Also again, drop a request if there is any specific scene from the 'original' timeline you'd like. The one at the beginning of this chapter was inspired by one such request ;)

Let me know!

R&R


	4. Chapter 3: Nepenthe

**A/N:** Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay! Life got in the want and the last scene of this chapter was an absolute bitch to write but I hope you guys like it!

"talking"

 _'thinking'_

 **'Kurama talking'**

 _ **'Kurama thinking'**_

* * *

Soul Matrix

Chapter 3

Nepenthe

* * *

 _5.5 Months Prior to Time Jump:_

He couldn't stop the bleeding.

He _couldn't_ stop the **bleeding.**

Shikamaru was there bleeding out in front of him. There wasn't a damn thing he could do.

Shikamaru was supposed the be _safe_. He was supposed to be back at headquarters with Sakura, planning the battle movements and fortifying the defenses there to protect the hospital.

Why the **fuck** was he here?

Naruto would later learn that communications had crashed on the battlefield and the decision was made for Shikamaru to join the battle and make strategic movements from the front. Shikamaru himself had insisted.

That _idiot._

How could he have put himself at risk like that?

Tears spilled over his cheeks as he continued to press his hands into the gaping wound in his lovers' side. The blood leaked through his fingers undaunted.

"No. _Please, Shika._ " Naruto pleaded with the unconscious figure. "Not yet. Not yet!"

He damned himself again and again for neglecting to learn any medical jutsu from Sakura. He was so useless. He had been trying to draw Kaguya's ire away from the main body of the survivors along with Sasuke. He hadn't e- He hadn't even felt Shikamaru enter the battle. In full bijuu mode, and he didn't feel him. He hadn't been paying good enough attention and here were the results: his love bleeding out in front of him while he sat uselessly by his side. Sasuke had left to get Sakura but they both knew she wouldn't get there in time. Not with a wound like this.

He sat numbly as blood continued to seep through his fingers and Shikamaru's chest rose and fell with progressively shallower breaths.

No.

He couldn't let another precious person slip through his fingers.

Not again.

A crazed thought flashed through his mind. Kurama would object but the beast was currently slumbering in the back of his mind, exhausted from the battle. He had been researching and playing around with Kabuto's and Orochimaru's seal for the reanimation jutsu and found a startling base similarity between them and the death reaper seal in which Kurama was housed.

At first he thought it was a mere curiosity, not anything he could use. But now, now he could see a use in them. With a little tweaking he might be able to use the concepts he had learnt from those seals to keep Shikamaru's soul. He wouldn't really be dead then.

Just his body.

And if he already had his soul, he was sure he could find a new body for his love's soul.

Or maybe Sakura could make one.

Naruto didn't care, he just had to save his lover. His blood soaked hands flew through hand seals guided by muscle memory and Uzumaki intuition. This _had_ to work. Naruto paused as what he knew was the last rattily breath escaped from Shikamaru's lungs. _Now._ At the last possible second Naruto changed his hand's course from where it was about to land over Shikamaru's heart to across his closed eyes.

He had heard that the eyes were the windows to the soul. Every time he caught a shimmer of laughter in Sakura's green eyes, or exasperated amusement in Sasuke's, and especially when he caught the lazy love reflected in Shikamaru's dark eyes he believed that was true.

Naruto gasped as his flesh seared across his chest before blackness overtook his vision.

The blonde knew no more as he landed in the blood soaked dirt beside the still form of his dead lover. That was how Sasuke and Sakura found him five minutes later when they finally arrived. Sakura picked up the unconscious blonde jinchuuriki as Sasuke inspected and burned their friend's former body.

Naruto would sleep in their tent tonight; he didn't deserve to be alone after what he'd just gone through.

It would be three days later that Naruto would finally wake up and tell them what he had done.

* * *

 _Present Day:_

The next morning, Naruto awoke to a knock at the door. The blonde blearily got to her feet and opened the door to reveal Sakura.

"Good morning Naruto!" The pink haired girl was far too chipper for this early in the morning.

"S-Sakura-chan?" Naruto yawned as she let in her friend, "What are you doing here this early? The academy doesn't start for another two hours!"

Sakura merely ignored the whining girl and pushed her back towards her bedroom.

"I know Naruto, but I could tell from how you looked yesterday that you are going to be completely hopeless at this girl thing so I thought I'd come help. Sasuke-kun will be here in about an hour with breakfast too."

The blonde groaned as she flopped down on the bed, "You roped the teme into this too?!"

She was once again ignored as Sakura began to rummage through her closet. "Go have a shower while I pick out some clothes, you look like you haven't had one in days!"

Naruto grumbled her way into the bathroom, who did she think she was bossing him -her- around like that so early in the morning? Turning to face the mirror, Naruto once again took stock of his -her- reflection. She hadn't yet bathed in this time, and didn't quite know how he would handle getting fully undressed. He had never been a little girl before after all.

' _Well, maybe if I just don't look too hard.'_

' **It's your body kit, you will have to get comfortable with it at some point.'**

' _Yeah, yeah.'_ Naruto stepped out of her pajama bottoms and turned on the water. _'That doesn't mean it will be today.'_

Fifteen minutes later Naruto returned to her room grumpy and wearing a towel. "Are you satisfied yet Sakura-chan?"

The girl sighed, "For now I guess. I will have to take you out to get proper shinobi gear when we start training. I couldn't find anything decent in my closet this morning either." Sakura was simply wearing her old blue dress with white leggings and had the red ribbon in her hair that Naruto remembered from their first time in the academy.

The pink haired girl had laid black knee-length leggings with an orange skirt, a white t-shirt, and a short-sleeve orange and blue hoodie with the Uzumaki crest on the back out on the bed for her. "This seems to be your normal outfit. That godawful jumpsuit was thankfully nowhere in sight, though everything is still startlingly orange."

"I loved that jumpsuit!" Naruto huffed as she grabbed underwear, "Uhh…?"

It took a moment for Sakura to catch on but then she broke out into giggles, "That's it for underwear Naruto! We don't have anything to worry about up here yet."

She giggled more at the other girl's reddening face, "I'll let you get dressed now!" She then flounced out of the room.

Five minutes later the blonde came out of her room, hair beginning to dry in utter disarray. "Are you sure I have to wear a skirt? And these short things are so tight!"

Sakura smiled at her brother turned sister, "You have five copies of that outfit all in your proper size Naruto, and they look brand new. People with think it's funny if you change them if you only just got them."

Naruto tugged on her skirt, "I suppose so."

"Now here I'll show you how to fix your hair. You have to get used to doing this too so pay attention."

Ten minutes and some cursing later Naruto was sitting at the kitchen table with only minor bruising and acceptable looking hair.

"Ow, Sakura-chan. Why did that have to hurt so much?"

Luckily, Sakura was saved from anymore of Naruto's whining when Sasuke knocked on the door.

"Dobe giving you a hard time Tsuma?" The raven gave Sakura a quick peck on the cheek as he moved to lay the breakfast bento's down on the table, ignoring Naruto's moaning about P.D.A. in the background.

Sakura blushed slightly and put a hand to her cheek and answered in a low voice. "Sasuke-kun, the seal isn't active yet."

Two sets of eyes, black and green, swiveled to Naruto.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." The blonde tapped a discrete seal on the floor with her foot by the table leg. She had drawn it before collapsing into bed the previous night. "Okay, we're good now."

Sasuke nodded and opened up the conversation while dishing out their breakfast. "So will we go after Shikamaru today? His strategizing will help us get a handle on what we are actually doing here. As it stands we don't even know where to start."

Naruto shoved a piece of egg into her mouth while shaking her head. "It'll have to be on the weekend." She swallowed. "I'll need most of the week to meditate and separate our souls. The reversal time will probably take longer than either of you too, since I've had his soul for so long."

"Separate your souls?"

Oh right, they hadn't told Sakura about that part yet. He -she- filled her in and added, "But I think around six months might be my limit on holding a soul. It's been more than five since I sealed Shika's, I don't think I could hold on much longer even if I did have my full reserves." Naruto rubbed to seal over her heart, missing the look between Sasuke and Sakura. "Thank kami I figured out that seal when I did."

Sakura spoke up first, cutting through the melancholy atmosphere that had descended. "So what do we do until then?"

Naruto sighed and stood up, collecting the empty bentos. "Just go to the academy I guess, try to get used to these smaller bodies. Try to act like how we did the first time around as much as you can though, can't raise suspicion yet."

Sasuke smirked, "Fine. How about we make a bet? Whoever breaks character the most has to supply lunch the next day."

"You're on teme!"

Hah, he knew Naruto would bite.

"That is so not fair Anata! All you have to do is sit there and go 'hn' all day!" Of course his wife would point that out. "But fine! All I have to do is beat Naruto. Shannaro!"

"Hey!"

Hook, line, and sinker. He was having lunch provided all week. ' _Maybe this wouldn't be too bad after all. I mean; dobe's a girl but I got my wife back.'_ He watched the two female's bicker as they left Naruto's apartment. _'Kakashi isn't going to know what hit him.'_

* * *

The week passed with predictable slowness mostly only interrupted by Naruto winning the first day of acting before Sakura got into her groove. The pink haired seemed to be reveling in the innocence and joy that was her childhood before becoming a ninja. The most noticeable change was the girl seemed to be kinder, like how she had been before that awful rivalry between her and Ino started. She had vowed to mend that friendship as soon as possible; she could scarcely believe that she had been this petty in her youth. That ended now.

Naruto attempted to alternate between sleeping in class (now a meditation attempt) and being generally disruptive as her classmates still seemed to expect out of hi-her. However, the blonde wasn't very successful with either endeavor as her heart just wasn't in it. Dutifully she provided lunch for her teammates when they met up for lunch away from the school though. Visions of dark hair sprawled across a pillow never far from her minds' eye.

Sasuke had a subtler reaction to reliving their school days. He sat how and where he used to, ignored Ino and the Dobe like he used to, 'hn'd' like he used to. But there was one thing that was unlike he used to; before he had hungrily soaked up all information presented to them by their instructors, now he was… The raven winced internally, he didn't think he had ever felt this way before, he had always had a purpose that he was actively working towards but now? This week? Sasuke Uchiha was bored out of his fucking mind.

Overall, the time travelling trio managed to make it through the week without arousing too much suspicion. And if anyone had noticed the meaningful glances between the three it went uncommented on.

However, one little boy with dark hair pulled into a pony tail had noticed something. The blonde troublemaker wasn't behaving like herself. She wasn't happy. Well -he corrected- he knew she was never quite truly happy but this was a different kind of unhappy than before. Before, there was hidden pain in her eyes but mischief in her smile. Now her eyes spoke of grief and the tightness in her lips was more wistful than he had ever seen on a person.

Shikamaru sat thinking through his new puzzle for the latter half of the week. He knew it probably had something to do with how her hair style had suddenly changed. Ever since he could remember that blonde hair that reminded him of sunlight had been tied up into two little pigtails on either side of her head. Now it hung down long to her chin in a slightly spiky bob, bangs pinned to her temple. Maybe she was trying to look older? That certainly was the effect it had if that was what she was going for.

It probably also had something to do with the way her gaze now lingered on him and both Sakura and Sasuke. The latter two didn't seem any different even if they did meet the blonde's eyes without contempt now. Had anything happened between the three? What about him? Shikamaru himself hadn't done anything to warrant her increased notice. Although the thought of her looking at him made his cheeks warm involuntarily and made him try to unsuccessfully fight his own circulatory system.

The boy sighed and opened his eyes after his second daily desk nap on Friday afternoon. Troublesome woman.

He'd figure it out eventually he supposed. Still not quite sure why he was so interested in Naruto's inner workings.

Maybe it was the way her eyes were the exact shade of the sky.

Or the way her hair was most assuredly spun from sunlight.

Or that her laughter felt like a warm summer breeze on his heart.

No. He had no idea.

* * *

Naruto groaned as she dislodged herself from the warm cocoon of blankets she had ensconced herself in. It was Saturday morning and it was either Sakura or Sasuke currently pounding at the door.

"Coming! Kami." The blonde barked as feet hit to floor and she moved out of the bedroom to the front door smacking a voice distortion seal on the table as she walked by. The door opened to reveal that it was both Sasuke and Sakura on the other side.

Sakura was the first to speak at the raised eyebrow the pair received. "Don't give me that look Naruto! We met up in the stairwell."

The girl snorted, "A likely story."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and moved to sit at the table, setting down a carton of eggs and bag of tomatoes. Women bickering was his life now, he may as well accept it. Hopefully Shikamaru would commiserate when they got him back.

The girls finished sticking their tongues out at each other and made their way to the kitchen to prepare tea and breakfast. By unspoken agreement they filled the air with idle chatter until they had finished eating.

"So…" Black eyes looked towards his formerly male best friend, "Can we move forward with the plan today?"

The blonde shrugged slightly, making a non-committal sound before explaining, "Shikamaru usually spent his Saturdays in the Nara compound getting clan training from his father during the academy so it's not ideal. Tomorrow would be better. He used to like escaping his mother by going down by the river to cloud watch, sometimes Chouji would join in the afternoon from what I can remember."

Sakura considered Naruto's words, "So the best time would be tomorrow before lunch so we can ambush him with no one around."

The other two nodded.

"We'll need seals to obscure us from view though." Sasuke pointed out.

"Way ahead of you, Teme." Naruto padded over to her small coffee table and grabbed three sheets of paper. "The two big ones will need each of you to stay within chakra contact while the other one is just an anchor. They shouldn't take much chakra so it will be okay for you guys." She sat back down and handed the seals to Sakura.

"So what will we do today?"

Naruto shrugged and sighed, "I'm gonna meditate all day. The week wasn't as productive as I had hoped it would be."

Twenty minutes later Sakura and Sasuke exited the blonde's apartment hand in hand as no one would see them in the hallway, each sporting pensive looks on their faces.

"I hope Naruto feels better after Shikamaru joins us. I hate seeing hi- her so down like this." Sakura commented.

Sasuke squeezed Sakura's hand slightly before moving apart. "I'm sure she will be, Shikamaru is not going to care whether she's a boy or not. The young Shikamaru here already has feelings for her anyway so it's not worth worrying about, Tsuma."

The girl slightly gasped and began giggling as they made their way to the stairs. "What really? How can you tell?"

Sasuke smirked and flashed sharingan eyes at her, "Every time he noticed her eyes on him he blushed slightly and his heart rate increased. Guy's a goner."

"That's adorable! I wonder if he was the same before?"

They paused by the door and the raven shrugged, "Who knows. Anyway meet back at my place in an hour?"

Sakura agreed and they separated after exiting the building, leaving Naruto to meditate undistracted.

* * *

Late afternoon found the blonde jinchuuriki sitting atop the Hokage monument on the Fourth's head. The sun was approaching the horizon in the west, shadows growing longer as the wind played with her hair. The girl didn't notice however, as she was ensconced deep within her mind.

"How does that look Kurama?"

Inside the girl's mind a twenty-ish looking and very male figure stood talking to the great fox beside him. The pair were in a remote corner of the blonde's mindscape. While the main area where Kurama usually resided had assumed the form of lush forest as it had in the future, this area was far more sparse and blank. The floor and surroundings regularly pulsed golden with brighter blueish tinged veins originating from somewhere off in the distance, indicating exactly how close they were to the jinchuuriki's heart and chakra core.

Naruto had decided to try working at separating their souls from within as traditional meditation seemed to fail. After nearly four hours of work, just under a third of the dark green and charcoal grey spidery mass that represented Shikamaru's soul was free. They had been summoning both of their chakra along the pulsating veins to pry the soul from mindscape. It was a slow a tedious process that had lasted all afternoon and aiming to go into the night at the present rate.

"Well kit, it's better than it was at least. The time spent like this has made the soul dependent on and familiar with both of our chakra. I'm not sure whether or not this will affect the boy after you return it to him." Piercing red eyes turned to troubled figure beside him. "He will still be himself if that is what you are now worrying about. Your thoughts are too loud."

Naruto shook his head, "Yeah, thanks Kurama. This is just a lot harder than with Sakura's. We should take a break; my body will be needing food now."

The fox made a low sound of agreement as the pair turned and made their way back to the forested area.

"Yea know, it's kinda funny that I appear like this in here." Kurama's red eyes turned back to the blonde as he spoke. "I guess it's because it's how I still think of myself, ne? Being a girl is still so strange…"

"Gender is of little consequence, kit. You will cease to remember about it or care with time."

Naruto sighed distractedly before taking in the great beast and said "I hope so, Kurama. I really hope so." As he faded from the mindscape.

Kurama blinked and looked back to where Shikamaru's soul lay in the distance. _"He better keep the kit happy."_ The Kyuubi groused to himself, _"Or I'll eat him."_

* * *

Sunday morning dawned bright a sunny with pure white clouds hanging in the sky. A perfect day for cloud watching and doggedly avoiding his mother who would want him to do something troublesome like _train_ or _study_. Or -heaven forbid- _clean his room_ , uuuuggghhh. He had trained in the clan arts all afternoon the previous day, surely that was enough activity for a week?

Shikamaru quickly got out of bed and with as much stealth as a nine-almost-ten-year old could muster slipped into some new clothes and snuck down over the stairs and into the kitchen, ever grateful that his parents had taken up the habit of sleeping late on Sundays. The dark haired boy grabbed a quick breakfast of sticky buns and apples before darting silently out the front door. Mission success. Hopefully Chouji would bring snacks if he showed up this afternoon otherwise he would be really hungry come dinnertime.

With a small lazy smirk on his face, Shikamaru began his journey to his favourite cloud watching spot by the river unaware of the ambush lying in wait for him.

* * *

Sasuke hopped out of the tree that he had been keeping watch in. "He's coming, is everything in place?"

The two girls nodded before the blonde one spoke, "The two larger seals are underneath the preselected bushes. I will activate the anchor as I approach from the other side. Activate your seals when I give the signal."

Sasuke and Sakura nodded before getting into position, it was almost time and their time travelling quartet would be complete.

Five minutes later their target came into view, his head moving this way and that, no doubt looking for the best spot to lay down on and watch the clouds pass by overhead. A minute later Shikamaru chose a spot almost exactly where Naruto had predicted he would.

After another five minutes Naruto appeared on the opposite side of the clearing, subtly dropping and activating the anchor seal as she approached the supine boy. Said boy didn't notice the approaching girl until she was within five feet of him.

Shikamaru gave a bit of a start and reddened when he noticed Naruto so close to him. When had she gotten here? He hadn't heard anything. "Uh… Morning." He stammered while pulling himself into a sitting position.

The blonde girl smiled softly as she sat down next to him, "Good morning! Beautiful day isn't it? Dattebayo!"

Naruto winced internally, she must be more nervous than he -she- thought. That verbal tick only came out when he -she- was exceptionally excited or nervous usually. Maybe right now she was both he -she- mused. Thankfully, Shikamaru didn't seem to pick up on her nerves or at least didn't comment on it.

"Uh, I suppose Naruto-chan." What was she doing here? He had never seen anyone here besides him and Chouji here before.

Meanwhile, Naruto blushed. Hearing Shikamaru add -chan to her name affected him -her- strangely. Something warm settled around her heart and gave her strength that the blonde didn't know she needed.

She gazed searchingly at her companion before speaking, "Shikamaru, close your eyes for a second." Naruto decided to be a tad selfish before her resolve gave out.

"Huh? Why?"

"Just trust me Shika."

The brunette hesitated briefly before lowering his lids. He could tell that she wasn't about to do anything embarrassing to him. He had never seen the girl look this serious before. Even the melancholy that had been written across her face all week had nothing compared to the determined look she now sported.

A moment passed by as he heard the girl in front of him take a deep breath, presumably centering herself for whatever she was about to do. Just as he was about to complain and open his eyes he felt something warm on his lips. She was kissing him! His eyes shot open; speechless in his disbelief. In the few seconds it took before the boy was able to recover Naruto capitalized on his confusion and covered his eyes with her hand, releasing the jutsu.

Tears began to fall down her cheeks as Shikamaru slumped back onto the grass. It was out of her hands now, if Shika didn't love him -her- anymore because of what he had done… well he -she- supposed she would have to live with that but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt like a bitch.

The girl hiccupped slightly, not bothering to wipe away her tears as she made Shikamaru more comfortable on the grass. She tugged the elastic out of his hair and ran her hands through the dark strands, taking comfort in being able to do this for possibly the last time. She used to think his hair was black but it wasn't. It was a very dark rich brown, warmed from the sun as her fingers continued to comb through it.

Naruto looked up sharply as she heard something approach, Sasuke and Sakura emerged from their bushes to walk towards the pair on the ground. The anchored their seals to the ground ten feet away, maintaining the triangle formation before sitting next to their friends. The barrier seal wouldn't be as strong if they weren't touching it but it didn't have to be now.

Sakura wrapped an arm around the girl while Sasuke briefly touched her arm in support.

"Stop worrying dobe. Shikamaru's better than that." Sasuke scoffed softly, really the idiot Nara was crazy for his sister. Both when she was a male and now if how the boy had been acting was any indication.

"And if he's not, I'll kick his ass!" Well, Sakura had always taken a more direct approach to correcting stupidity.

Naruto laughed slightly while finally wiping her face. Yeah, it would probably be fine. Shikamaru was stronger and smarter than she could sometimes comprehend. And Shikamaru had loved him, that was something he really couldn't grasp for the longest time. Kurama's rumbled deep voice rumbled wordlessly in the back of his -her- mind, trying to give comfort and reassurance in his own way. He -she- really had the best friends.

* * *

An hour had passed and they were starting to wonder if they should move the unconscious Shikamaru when he finally started moving. The hand Naruto was holding tightened around hers and his eyelids began fluttering. The conversation hushed as the three turned towards the boy. Shikamaru's brow creased and he started shaking his head back and forth. Naruto's heart constricted as he started making short constricted whimpers of pain. The blonde returned her fingers to his hair, smoothing the strands away from his face as he continued to twitch. Neither of the other two had been in pain when their souls had been returned, what was going on?

"Is that supposed to happen?" Sakura asked worriedly as the boys twitching began to get more violent. The muscles in his arms and legs began to spasm.

Sasuke shook his head, "No."

When the spasms progressed into a full blown seizure Naruto frantically contacted the beast within. _'Do you know what's going on Kurama?'_

Sakura gently pushed the distressed girl out of the way to run green hands over the seizing boy, "Don't touch him, that'll only hurt him worse." There was nothing you can do once a seizure started, just wait.

' **Sorry kit, I'm not sure. His soul is gone from in here, whatever is going on is happening inside of him. There's nothing we can do. Either his soul will assimilate or it won't.'**

Naruto made a distressed sound drawing Sakura and Sasuke's eyes to her, _'Nothing Kurama?! Anything?!'_

The great beast looked down in defeat inside of the mindscape. **'I'm sorry kit.'**

Sakura's hands dropped to her sides in defeat, "I'm sorry Naruto, I can't find the cause of the seizure. The electrical activity in his brain is severely increased but there is nothing to indicate a stroke. I-" She hiccupped, not familiar with feeling this useless after so long of being a medic. "I can't do anything until the seizing stops."

On the ground: Shikamaru's seizure passed the two-minute mark.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, that last scene took forever. So sorry again about the delay guys, the next chapter should be out sooner. But let me know what you think about this one!

I am still taking requests for intro-flashbacks. Are there any scenes you guys would like to see between the end of the war and the beginning of my story?

Thanks again for all of the reviews and follows! Makes my heart warm. And as always I am open to suggestions to improve my writing if you have any.

Please review!


	5. Chapter 4: Retrouvaille

**A/N:** Well here we are! Another chapter complete! I must say all of the reviews from the last chapter really inspired me to write this one quickly. It mostly focuses around Naruto and Shikamaru, we'll get more Sasu/Saku later I promise. Hope you enjoy!

***FYI for this and future chapters Nikkō = Sunshine***

"talking"

 _'thinking'_

 **'Kurama talking'**

 _ **'Kurama thinking'**_

* * *

Soul Matrix

Chapter 4

Retrouvaille

* * *

 _10 Months Prior to Kaguya's Return:_

Shikamaru gazed over at his new lover. New lover. Wasn't that a thought? He smiled softly as the man he loved played with some academy aged kids in the street and began to reminisce.

It had started out as a harmless feeling of affection. He had begun having these feelings for the blonde goofball since he was twelve, at the second round of their chunin exams.

When he closed his eyes he could still envision Naruto standing there swearing on Hinata's blood, it had made him really _believe_ for the first time. Believe that there might be something worth trying for, being motivated for. The warm feeling coiled in the pit of his stomach. That boy who had been beaten down and trampled for so long, who had always smiled through his pain despite the fact that he was desperately trying to not feel for others, was promising to defeat another boy that seemed so far out of his league for a girl he barely knew. At that moment Shikamaru first felt what it was like to believe in someone.

At the time, the thought had embarrassed him. Later, when Naruto returned to the village, it had empowered him. That first moment of seeing Naruto had been like a cloud breaking and sunlight streaming into his life after a long winter. That's when he knew his feelings might go a bit farther beyond friendship.

He suspected that his father figured it out first during the Pein attack. He had tried to go to him, completely forgetting about his own broken leg in his haste. He never got the chance to talk to his old man about it. Then again he had never expected for his affections to be tolerated let alone returned.

He had thought that after the war his feelings would fade, possibly brought about by the stress of the situation. Hah, hadn't that been a load of bull cooked up by his denial clad brain? The feelings had only gotten stronger, physical urges complementing his habitual musings.

He had wanted to put an end to it. That wasn't an acceptable match for a clan heir, not that he usually cared about such things but his mother would kill him if he didn't give her grandkids and he wanted to pass on his father's memory. The only way to do that would be to obtain a wife, not a very male blonde.

So he had hatched a plan, he would try flirting with Naruto and when he finally got rejected his feelings would take the hint and finally move on. There was no way Naruto could possibly return those feelings after all. Hinata had point blank confessed to him and it was only a matter of time.

What a fucking idiot he had been.

About four months ago, when it became clear to him that his feelings weren't going to magically fly away, he had dropped his first flirtation. _'I told him that I liked his smile.'_ Really he was just being honest but the blush that spread across those scarred cheeks intrigued him and he continued, getting more blatant from there. Still, he had received no indication of rejection so he increased his efforts to touching; slight brushes of the hands, a hand in the small of the back, a brush of the thigh when they had sat next to each other. Still there wasn't a reaction aside from the perplexing blush that spread across his nose.

What would it take for Naruto to finally get the hint and put a stop to it? Not that he was really looking forward to getting rejected, that would be painful, but it was necessary. Otherwise he would never get over these stupid feelings.

The feelings he couldn't help but feel had roared through him unbidden. They wanted him to grab Naruto's hand as they walked through the village, or to nap together in the summer sun in his favourite spot by the river. Then there were others that he dared not think about; Naruto's head thrown back in ecstasy, his own lips trailing over abdominals.

No those feelings had to go, he had to move on. Pining over someone like that wasn't healthy.

But Naruto seemed to have other plans. Two nights ago the blonde had run up to him in the streets as he walked back home. He had looked a bit roughed up (he would later find out that he had been training with Sasuke) when he approached. Before Shikamaru could say anything Naruto spat out.

"I am such an idiot."

Then the unpredictable knucklehead had covered Shikamaru's lips with his own. Shikamaru had frozen for an instant before his body reacted on its own. Naruto had started the kiss off strong and Shikamaru had returned double as his hands slipped around the blonde's waist and drew him deeper, prying his lips apart in order to taste him.

At what felt like both a second and a century later they drew apart for air, resting their foreheads together as they panted. Shikamaru raised his eyes and caught the blue depths with his own and realized, _'_ _I'm_ _such a fucking idiot. I love him. I fucking love him. How did I not-?'_ But his inner realization was cut short as Naruto kissed him again, tan hands reaching towards his hair dislodging his signature ponytail.

But it didn't matter; Shikamaru was tasting sunlight.

Coming back to the present, the pineapple haired boy gazed at the smile on his new lover's face as he played some silly game with the academy children. The wind played with his sunshine hair and his sky blue eyes glinted with happiness. After finally understanding the depths of his own emotion he had realized that there was no way he could give Naruto up. He had been an utter fool to think that he would have calmly let go of his -love, definitely love- for the man even if he had been rejected. He had always been willing to follow him into hell, he supposed he would just have to deal with his mother.

Suddenly, those azure eyes locked onto his and he felt a smile stretch his cheeks without consent. Naruto finished playing and approached, a tentative hand found his as they turned to head to the river.

It was a beautiful day; his mother could wait awhile.

* * *

 _Present day:_

After the two-minute mark Sakura explained the consequences of Shikamaru's seizure lasting too long. If it continued, he might have permanent brain damage from lack of oxygen to his brain.

"No!" The blonde sobbed, he -she- couldn't do this again. Another few seconds passed, they were now approaching three minutes and luckily Shikamaru finally stopped seizing. Sakura immediately focused her hands above Shikamaru's lungs and head, she would try to repair any damage before the brain plasticity broke down after oxygen deprivation. Hopefully much of the damage could be mitigated.

Meanwhile, Naruto turned her wild eyes to Sasuke, "Kurama doesn't know what's wrong but his soul is failing to assimilate. C-can you look?"

Sasuke wasn't sure how much he could help, a byakugan would be of more use, but dammit he would try. With eyes blazing red and tomoe spinning he searched for any sign of what was going on within Shikamaru. It took a moment, he wasn't used to using his sharingan in this way, before he saw it.

There were two masses of chakra within Shikamaru; both looked like the boy's own as the masses were very similar one a tad greener, the other a tad grayer, perhaps they were attached to the souls? However, one seemed to be stronger than the other. The grayer one seemed to be attempting to attach itself to the greener one but the greener one was fighting back. He quickly explained the findings to Naruto as the girl gripped Shikamaru's hand for dear life.

Sakura waved a glowing green hand over Shikamaru from head to torso before settling back, her examination complete, "Naruto, you were maintaining Shikamaru's soul with your chakra while it was in the seal right? Maybe it's in shock from being removed from that environment after such a long time. Maybe it just needs some help to… to acclimatize. See if you can push some of yours and maybe Kurama's chakra into him, see if you can make a connection between the two. Like a… like a bridge."

Naruto seemed desperate to try anything. "How?"

Sakura moved one of the girl's hands above Shikamaru's eyes and the other over his navel. "Here, send pulses out from the hand over his eyes to the other one. Gently."

She didn't spare a nod before getting to work. After a tense few minutes Shikamaru's muscles began to ease from their tensed state and Sasuke interjected, "I think it's working."

Fifteen stressed minutes later the girl sat back with an exhausted huff. Sasuke had said that her chakra was no longer helping, Shikamaru would have to do the rest of the work.

Five minutes passed and it seemed like the danger had subsided. Shikamaru didn't seem to be in anymore pain at least but he still hadn't woken up. Each of the time travelling trio were lost in their own thoughts, distressed to have come so far and then to have this happen. They all felt so useless.

Naruto broke them out of their individual reveries with a sharp intake of breath, "I think he's waking up!" Sure enough, Shikamaru seemed more animated as eyes moved under lids.

The blonde anxiously leaned in, eager to catch the first glimpse of his -her- Shika's eyes.

Beneath the girl, Shikamaru groaned. He had a splitting headache and felt like he just got thrown off of the Hokage mountain and forced to run for days on end. What the hell had happened? The last thing he remembered was losing communication with the front. He didn't hear any fighting around him, his body seemed to be in one piece despite the pain and was that someone holding his hand? He scrunched up his eyes one last time before wrenching them open and blinking away the stars. When he could finally see his eyes locked onto a pair of orbs that he would recognize anywhere. That blue gaze had been emblazoned across his heart since he was twelve years old after all.

A small smile graced is lips as his free hand rose to cup the damp cheek above him, "Nikkō-chan, what happened?"

Hearing Shikamaru call him -her- by his nickname caused Naruto to laugh with surprise and a smile a mile wide broke over her face. A _very_ high pitched "Shika!" fell out of her mouth before Shikamaru found himself with arms full of slightly hysterical blonde jinchuuriki.

After a few moments of emotional confusion where Shikamaru was attempting in vain to calm down his strangely small lover, Sasuke and Sakura intervened to allow Shikamaru to sit up. The brunette froze when he was finally able to look properly at his companions and surroundings. They were smaller, _younger_ he realized. Looking down he noticed he was also affected. Additionally, the trees and grass around them were lush and green, there was no stench of rotting or burning flesh on the breeze. Their clothes looked new without dirt or holes. With his brain rushing with synapses connecting the links between every piece of information he noticed both consciously and subconsciously Shikamaru could come to only one conclusion:

"Time travel." The brunette breathed, staring into each set of eyes around him settling once again on his now childlike lover. "Did you…? How…?"

As Naruto grinned wider and nodded furiously, still too pent up to speak, Sasuke scoffed, "Of course Nara figures is out in about two seconds. Welcome back."

"Heh, thanks Uchiha. So what happened? How did this-" He gestured around to all of them, "-happen? The last thing I remember from our time is losing communication with the front."

Upon seeing the wide eyes from all three of his companions he knew he had said something funny, "What?"

Sakura looked at him quizzically, "From our time? You mean you specifically remember your childhood here and can differentiate it from our first one?"

"You guys can't?" After receiving three simultaneous headshakes he continued, "Huh, troublesome. I can distinctly remember that Naruto is a girl here. You'll have to explain that to me but uh-" the brunette turned a pretty shade of pink and looked down at the grass, "-my alternate younger self had the _biggest_ crush on you Nikkō-chan."

Hah! Sasuke aimed smirked at Sakura from behind the now blushing blonde's head. He fucking _knew_ it. However, it was now approaching noon and he had to interrupt.

"We should move this to my place. We've been here longer than we thought we would be and Chouji could show up any minute."

Sakura nodded and got to her feet while Naruto assisted in helping Shikamaru stand who groaned began to complain. "Can anyone explain to me when I feel like I got hit by a boulder?"

"You had a seizure. A pretty bad one." Sakura responded. "I was able to heal most of the damage but the brain is tricky. We will have to keep an eye on it."

Shikamaru's eyes widened. "A seizure? I take it that wasn't supposed to happen."

Naruto shook her head, "No. I can explain better when we reach Sasuke's."

"Okay, let's go then."

Shikamaru grabbed Naruto's hand and held it the entire way to Sasuke's apartment; the ten-year-old boy inside of him crowed with happiness.

* * *

Shikamaru sat in stunned silence. The enormity of what had transpired while he was dead -fuck he had been _dead_ \- was utterly overwhelming. Naruto, his Naruto, his Nikkō-chan, had taken an idea he had dismissed on a whim and turned it into a viable working reality. Had twisted the fabric of space and time on an unprecedented scale to alter history itself. Not only that, he had managed to bring the three of them with him with their souls whole and intact and able to impart their future memories to their younger selves.

The brunette ran a hand through his still down hair, he understood that there were some complications when Naruto restored his soul. He had been dead for almost six months so he's not overly surprised given the circumstances, he had been the guinea pig for the seal a seal that was conceived and finalized within moments -and wasn't _that_ something that blew his mind even further- the fact that it even worked was incredible.

Shikamaru's gaze returned to the anxious looking blonde sitting across from him in the Uchiha's living room. What his lover had been able to accomplish in the final moments of humanity, in the most desperate and unforgiving of circumstance, left him in awe.

But even more than awe, he felt shame. He had left him alone for almost six months. He had died _uselessly_ risking himself by leaving headquarters. At the time he had thought that it was the only way, maybe if he had- No! He had to put that line of thinking out of his head. It had no use here and would merely be a distraction. Instead, Shikamaru made a vow to himself.

' _I will do absolutely everything I am capable of to support Naruto save our world. I will always be by his side and protect him in every way I am capable and I will grow strong enough that he will never have to worry about my safety over the lives of others ever again. I will stand and fight by his side no matter what. Naruto, you will never be alone again. This time will be different, I will be better; for Naruto.'_

However, as Shikamaru made his vow he realized, yet again, that his very male lover had turned into a female. So instead of commenting on their time travel or what their next course of action would be, Shikamaru said something that had been on his mind for a long time. Since he was twelve years old visiting Naruto in the hospital before the third round of the chunin exam. He knew that the boy wouldn't have appreciated it then, or even after they had gotten together years later but he felt like he had kept it to himself long enough.

"You're beautiful."

"W-wha?" Naruto sputtered, face turning beat red. Of all the things Shikamaru could have said, that was the last thing the girl had expected.

Shikamaru vaguely noted Sakura hitting Sasuke in the arm to shut him up as he continued. "I've always thought so." His lips curved into a teasing smile, "But before you would have kicked my ass for saying it. Now you aren't nearly so intimidating."

The blonde squeaked in indignation before covering her mouth in embarrassment and turning even redder. "I'll show you intimidating!"

Shikamaru chuckled, he -she he supposed, conflicting memories were troublesome- was always so easy to rile up. And now the melancholy mood was broken, success all around.

"Troublesome blondes, bending the laws of physics to suit your needs." His eyes sparkled with mirth as he re-tied his hair. "Quite a load to drop on a guy, ne? Nikkō-chan?"

Naruto's blushed faded and a wide grin split across her young face, "That's what I'm here for Shika." Why did he -she- ever think Shikamaru wouldn't accept that he had turned into a girl? He was smarter than that.

Sasuke, meanwhile, had finally escaped Sakura's fists and was able to interject into the newly reunited couple's moment, "Precious guys, but now what do we do?" He dodged a final swipe at his head before continuing. "We need a strategy to get stronger and without detection and we need to figure out what we are going to change and what should be kept the same."

Shikamaru considered carefully before responding, "There are more factors to consider than can be summed up easily. A comprehensive plan will take some time. However, time is one thing that we have quite a bit of at the moment; two and a half years until graduation. That's more than enough time to train and far surpass our strength than when we originally graduated. I don't think there is much we can do before then anyway without telling someone of our situation. That will probably change with more thought but I think that's enough for today. I still feel like I've been hit with a bag of bricks." He finished with a yawn and rolled his shoulders, he really hoped the soreness went away soon.

"Yeah, why don't we take the rest of the day to relax, this morning was more stressful than expected." Sakura agreed. "We can talk tomorrow at lunch."

The rest of the quartet agreed and Naruto left with Shikamaru. They were walking idly through the village when they came to the bridge crossing the river to training ground seven when Naruto broke the silence.

"A-are you sure you're okay with all… this?" The blonde looked over the few inches between them, a pensive look on her face.

In response Shikamaru grabbed her hand in his, kami they were both so small, and turned towards her. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, finally understanding why Naruto had always liked running his hands through his own hair, and kissed her on the cheek. "I fell in love with you, not what is or isn't in your pants, Nikko-chan. Besides it presents a unique opportunity."

"Opportunity?" Naruto's face scrunched up.

"Now I can say my troublesome woman catchphrase and have it apply to you."

That managed to startle a laugh out of the blonde before she whacked him in the arm with her free hand. "Smooth, Shika."

"Of course." His smirk was just a tad too smug to seem at home on a ten-year-old's face as he tugged the girl into continuing walking.

"Where are we going Shika?"

"To the Nara estate. It's about time you meet my parents properly. Also it's almost dinnertime and I'm starving." Shikamaru responded nonchalantly, hoping Naruto would just go with it.

"What?!"

' _Apparently not.'_

He swallowed a sigh before firmly replying, "What did you think I was going to hide this? We're together, period." He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I love you and they are just going to have to deal with it. I won't make the same mistake twice. Besides, my alternate self has liked you for two years already so it won't be much of a surprise."

Naruto wiped an eye of moisture as Shikamaru continued to guide her to his family's estate. There had been way too many emotions today and he -she- seemed to have lost his ability to control his -her- tears. "O-okay."

The brunette rubbed a tiny thumb over his love's tiny hand, _'Yeah, this time will be better.'_

* * *

"Tadaima, Kaa-chan!" Shikamaru called out as he and Naruto entered his childhood home. They slipped off their shoes as Yoshino curiously peered around the doorway to the kitchen. Usually her son slunk into the house as quietly as possible to avoid his 'troublesome mother' as she heard him mutter under his breath. Ah, he had someone with him.

"Okaeri Shikamaru-kun. Who's your friend?"

As the children finished tucking away their shoes she finally got a clear look at her son's companion, making her heart clench. The blonde hair and whisker marks were a dead giveaway; her baby had brought home the village jinchuuriki.

Now, Yoshino Nara was an intelligent woman, you had to be to marry into the Nara clan after all. As such she didn't have any foolish misconceptions about the girl being a demon or anything else as ridiculous as what the civilians and other idiotic shinobi believed. However, she was cautious. She knew the dangers of jailing such a massive amount raw chakra and hate inside of a human being and what the stresses of that could do to the human psyche. The way the village had treated the poor girl had made her increasingly nervous, she had tried to get Shikaku to do something about it over the years -including adopt the girl at one point- but each time they were rebuffed by the council, citing clan politics or some other pathetic excuse. But as such their hands had been tied, leaving the young Uzumaki to face the worst of their village alone. It made her heart ache.

It also made her nervous. In the same way that a dog could snap after being beat one too many times.

Regardless she would give the girl the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she would prove the whole village wrong about her like she so often proclaimed. Either way, her boy had brought the girl home for a reason and she was going to find out what.

But it seemed like her baby was way more on board than expected as he grabbed the girl's hand and spun her to face his mother by his side, cheeks of both children reddening.

"This is Naruto Uzumaki. My girlfriend."

At first Yoshino didn't know how to react. What were you supposed to say when your only son, who barely shows interest in food let alone girls, declares his interest in one such female with absolutely no buildup? But after taking in her son's face shining with determination she didn't realize he had and the wide eyes and red cheeks of little Naruto she could only do one thing. She started laughing.

"Oh is she now, Shika-kun?" The Nara matriarch wipe a tear of mirth from her eye as she turned to address Naruto. "What do you say Naruto-chan? Is my son telling the truth?"

The poor girl seemed to be in a bit of shock but after a moment she nodded, giving her a hesitant smile.

' _Well-'_ Yoshino mused, _'That was a bit unexpected. Perhaps my lazy son is a bit more like me than I had thought. Shikaku took ages and something a bit more forceful than hints to finally ask me out.'_ A wide smile fell onto her face. _'I'm so proud of my baby!'_

She continued on in a calm tone seeing that Naruto was still a bit nervous. "Well I'm quite pleased to meet you Naruto-chan, anyone that can get my little Shika here off his lazy butt is more than welcome. Anyway, my name is Yoshino, I'm Shikamaru's mother."

The blonde looked up at her with blue eyes wide with awe and bowed, "Pleased to meet you Yoshino-san."

She gave the girl a final warm smile before addressing her son, "Your father should be here soon, why don't you two head out onto the veranda while I finish dinner, Naruto-chan here is staying of course."

Shikamaru gave her a firm nod before tugging Naruto through the house, hands still linked.

Yoshino's eyes roamed over the blonde girl's skinny frame as the children retreated and came to a decision, if this girl was as important to her son as she now expected; she would need some mothering. Not a scrap of meat was to be found on those bones and maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to worry so much after all.

She shook her head in amusement as she returned to the kitchen, ' _Kids.'_

* * *

"I can't believe you just did that!" Naruto hissed under his -her- breath as they settled on the veranda at the back of the house.

Shikamaru just shrugged and gave a lazy smile. "I'm just glad I was able to this time."

The blonde's outrage sobered, Shikamaru's father died against Kaguya the first time and his mother shortly after her return. There had been too much going on to really broach the subject with her before. And now he -she- was going to be presented as Shikamaru's _girlfriend_ the first time they met. Naruto's mouth twisted at the thought of being described as the girl in the relationship, it was the first time he -she dammit- had been directly referred to as a female and it made the blonde slightly uncomfortable.

"Hey." Shikamaru turned her head towards him with a hand on her cheek. "What's with the face?"

"I'm not used to being a girl yet." Naruto tore his -her- eyes away from Shikamaru's to look down at the wood beneath them but Shikamaru just dragged her face back up.

"You're still you Nikko-chan."

"How are you taking this so well Shika? It's not every day that you wake up and your partner is the opposite gender." Naruto commented. While he -she- was glad Shikamaru was so accepting it was also confusing.

"Well I have my alternate-self's memories so I remember you as both as a kid and the ones of you as a girl are much more fresh." Shikamaru explained slowly in a hushed voice, they didn't have their alternate's memories. Then it hit him, maybe this was a difference related to his seizure. He explained his theory to Naruto quietly.

"Yeah that could be." The blonde responded, "The rest of us don't remember anything after all."

' _There's nothing hidden away in there is there Kurama?'_

' **Not that I can find, kit.'**

She shook her head again, "Kurama can't find anything either."

"Troublesome. I wonder if this means there might be other side effects as well."

He felt her small hand reach for his and he squeezed it gently, "In any case it seems to have made this transition a bit easier."

Naruto breathed a sigh and gave him a small smile, "Yeah."

Shikamaru returned her smile and tugged her to her feet. "Now how about I finally teach you how to play shogi?"

* * *

Shikaku for once was having a pretty good day. It had started out with a boring bit of paperwork but had ended with supervising the new jonin hopefuls in preparations for their upcoming exams. It was always a good day when he got to see someone else work for a change. Also chunin Yuhi was promising and itching to gain her promotion, it always pleased him to see ambition in others even if his own was somewhat lacking.

Entering his home, he heard his wife humming in the kitchen, preparing dinner if that heavenly smell was anything to go on. _'Must've had a good day too.'_ Smirking lazily the jonin commander silently proceeded into the kitchen, his wife was happily humming and stirring something on the stove seemingly unaware of his presence. He decided to take advantage of the situation as he wrapped his arms around his wife's petite waist and buried his nose in her hair. Yoshino leaned back into her husband's chest. "Hmm, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Shikaku chuckled lowly, "I was thinking that you must have had as good of a day as I did, I haven't found you humming like that in a while. And with my wife humming and looking like that? How could I resist?"

Yoshino smiled and tipped her head back, receiving an upside-down kiss on her lips before turning in his arms to look at him properly. She buried one hand in his hair while the other traced the deep scarring on his cheek and kissed his lips one last time before replying. How she longed for more moments like this.

"Our son brought home a girl today."

She giggled at the wide eyed reaction that elicited.

"Our son? Shikamaru? A girl… as in a girl girl, not just a friend girl?" His expression became ever more incredulous as Yoshino kept nodding to his questions. "But the boy is barely ten!"

His wife giggled and shrugged out of his arms, turning back to stirring. "You should see him Shi, they're out on the veranda."

Shikaku trailed a last hand over his wife's side as he turned to do just that.

"Dinner will be ready in five!"

He grunted absently as he left the kitchen needing to see this for himself. A moment later he came upon the pair of children. His eyes widened for what felt like the thousandth time since returning home. Minato's girl. His son had brought home Minato's daughter and was now teaching her to play shogi. He wouldn't have believed the girl could sit still enough for such a feat if he didn't see it with his own eyes.

But it was the way they looked at each other that made his breath catch in his throat. It was the same look that Yoshino had given him not a moment prior.

His intake of breath must have given him away as both children looked to him simultaneously.

"Hi Tou-san. This is Naruto, my girlfriend." There was a soft smile on his sons face but his eyes glinted, as of daring him to refute the claim. Instead his eyes focused on the girl who looked mildly nervous despite the grin on her face as she waved. The Nara head gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile before addressing the girl.

"We have met before briefly. In recent years it has become a part of the jonin training program to be able to catch Naruto after one of her pranks. Puts my recruits through their paces. I'm much obliged Naruto-chan, your efforts are most inspired."

The girl gave a surprised laugh. He -she- never knew Shikaku had thought that before in their previous life, that was hilarious!

"Thank you Shikaku-san! I do try." A foxy grin spread across her face, "That sounds a bit like a mission, ne? Naruto catching. What rank is it assigned?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the girl's question, this would no doubt encourage her to keep pranking people while they were still at the academy. However, it would help them retain their cover so he couldn't complain too much.

The elder meanwhile had a wry smile cross his face as he answered the girl, his thoughts unknowingly mirroring his sons to some extent but deciding to be truthful anyway. It did keep his recruits on their toes after all, being outwitted by a child stung.

"B-rank." Naruto's eye widened, "You're pretty slippery plus they aren't allowed to hurt you which increases difficulty while also trying to limit property damage. Makes for a decently problematic scenario." He placed a hand on her head to muss up her hair. "Keep up the good work kiddo."

The megawatt smile he received from the blonde and the soft look in his son's eyes told him all he needed to know. Naruto would be sticking around and there was no point in questioning it. The boy was a goner.

His thought's turned to his wife's attitude this evening as she called them all in for dinner; they were all goner's it seemed.

Shikamaru reflected on his parent's reactions a felt a twinge of guilt as they sat at the table. Would his parents, specifically his mother, have had the same reaction to Naruto in the future? Or were they only so accepting because he was a girl in this timeline? He would never find out and he supposed it didn't matter anyway, things would be different now. His sunshine had made this opportunity and he wasn't going to waste it.

* * *

 **A/N:** I couldn't resist having some fluff. Shikamaru's mother is usually portrayed as a bit of a harpy (Which I have no doubt she can be after putting up with those two for so long) but I can also see her being very loving and excited to see her son achieve things. Also parent intimacy is a thing that needs to be shown more.

I also gave more clues about why Kurama isn't totally copacetic with Shikamaru being Naruto's mate. Surprisingly no one has commented on it yet… you guys awake?

Anyway let me know what you thought and give me ideas for the back flashes as always, I only have two more ideas so I need some inspiration!

Please review!


	6. Chapter 5: Chutzpah

**A/N:** Hi Everyone! First I would like to thank all of my reviewers! I got 20 for my last chapter! I'm so excited, they were all so encouraging and inspirational and have brought you this chapter so soon! ^_^

Also just to reassure everyone, I have in depth outlines for the next 3-4 chapters and a complete plot map up until the original timeline time skip. I'm not going anywhere.

Without further ado, here is the next chapter!

"talking"

 _'thinking'_

 **'Kurama talking'**

 _ **'Kurama thinking'**_

* * *

Soul Matrix

Chapter 5

Chutzpah

* * *

 _10 Months Prior to Kaguya's Return:_

Naruto's fist slammed into Sasuke's cheek, causing the dark haired man to jerk back, slamming into the tree behind him. The Uchiha grunted, incensed. The blonde was fucking pissing him off!

"Just admit it Sasuke! What's the point in denying both of you guys' happiness?!"

The raven wiped a trickle of blood coming from his nose before disappearing and reappearing behind the blonde annoyance, dropping into a crouch to sweep his legs out from under him. When had their spar turned into a lecture?

This had begun as a friendly, run of the mill, no-chakra spar to let them give off some steam and break in their new prosthetics (After they had destroyed their first set by frying them with chakra). Then the idiot had started spouting off insults and asking pointed personal questions that, in all honesty, had started to get under his skin.

"Fuck off, Dobe! It's none of your business anyway!" Sasuke barked out and launched a butterfly kick followed up with a right hook aimed to the temple.

Naruto blocked the incoming hands and feet, flexing his new right arm. He back flipped away from his enraged adoptive brother and landed in a crouch. He then launched a double footed mule kick which Sasuke deftly sidestepped, bringing an elbow down into Naruto's side as he passed by landing the blonde in the dirt.

The Uzumaki grunted and got back to his feet, "Like hell it isn't! You've been pussy footing around the issue for almost a fucking year."

Sasuke released a snarl and launched at the jinchuuriki however the blonde used his newly acquired extra two inches of reach to grip the pissed off man around the wrist and armpit to toss him over his shoulder. He landed flat on his back, feeling the air rush out of him with loud 'ooof', unfortunately this gave Naruto yet another opportunity to open his big mouth.

"Get your head out of your ass, Teme! You know she's been in love with you for forever."

Sasuke rolled into a back handspring and landed ten feet from the blonde. "Why does this matter so much to you?!"

Naruto's eyes flashed as he regarded the man in front of him, there was a bruise already forming on his cheek with a cut above his eye and dirt scuffed into his clothing. Overall, he was a mess and in much worse shape than the blonde was currently in. They had been at this for over two hours now, the fact that Sasuke had taken as much damage as he did just proved to Naruto that what he had been saying for ages was right.

"Because you're both my family! I want to see you happy! The both of you!"

Sasuke's nose flared, "I don't need your help, asshole!" But before he could continue spouting acidic rebuttals he was interrupted.

"You're just scared! You've been running for so long, Sasuke."

The Uchiha positively growled at the absolutely true accusation, he had been running for the past decade and frankly he was _tired._ However, his aggression seemed to feed Naruto's words.

"It's time to rest a bit Sasuke. Sakura loves you and I know how much you care about her too, no matter how much you deny it." This was good, Sasuke had _finally_ stopped attacking even though he was still shaking his head and breathing like a wild animal. "Don't you think it's time to see if you guys really have something? Kami, I'm not telling you to marry her right off the bat or anything."

Sasuke snorted, "Like you're giving Nara a shot to see if you guys 'have something'?"

That managed to throw the blonde off kilter. "Sh-Shikamaru?"

"He's been hinting _at_ and hitting _on_ you for months, Dobe." Now it was the raven's turn to be exasperated, it had been exhausting to watch the Nara practically fawn over his pseudo-brother. "All you have done is blush and inch away, how about you finally give him an answer?"

And with that, Naruto was successfully derailed. "We're both guys! We can't be together like that!" The blonde had actually suspected what was going on but had thought it was all in his head. Guys didn't like each other like that… right? At least not that he'd noticed…

"Are you blind as well as stupid, you dumbfuck?! Have you actually met Izumo and Kotetsu? They've practically melded into one person!" The Uchiha threw back, Naruto was fucking impossible. Save the world, sure. But understand basic human interaction? No dice.

The blonde sputtered and practically choked on his own air, blood rushing to his face. It… It was okay? Something warm blossomed in his belly that may have been hope. However, more than that; he realized how to turn this around.

"Heh, fine then teme. We'll both do it! You'll talk to Sakura and I'll talk to Shikamaru. The last one to get an answer loses." And just like that it was a competition, and if there was one thing neither of them would back away from, was a challenge from the other. _'Kakashi and Gai would be proud_.'The blonde thought absently as Sasuke's lips settled into a defiant grimace.

"Fine. We'll do it tonight."

Naruto's lips settled into a hard line, "Fine with me. Right now even!"

"Fine."

"Fine!"

They parroted back and forth before stomping off in opposite directions, intending to find their respective objects of affection and talk. _Just talk._

Except Sasuke ended up asking Sakura to marry him.

And Naruto kissed the life out of Shikamaru.

It was the thought that counted right?

* * *

 _Present Day:_

Naruto and Shikamaru stood outside the door to their classroom at the academy, the brunet was trying in vain to convince the blonde to enter the room.

"I can't believe I let your mom do my hair!" The girl tugged on a spikey blonde pigtail that stuck out from the side of her head. "I look like Baa-chan!"

Shikamaru sighed and repeated for possibly the tenth time since they left the Nara estate that morning, "If you don't like it then take them out!"

Yoshino had insisted that Naruto stay the night after dinner and they had spent the evening getting to know the girl. Then, that morning, after finding some clean clothes for her Yoshino had stood behind her and brushed her hair before tying it up into two pigtails. It was the first time any adult had ever touched him -her- like that. Blue eyes watered as Yoshino turned her around to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and gave her a warm pat on the head. He -she- might have completely broken down if Shikamaru hadn't chosen that moment to appear and wrap his hand in hers, a knowing look on his face.

Thinking about all of this the blonde shook her head, "No. I – I'll keep them. I won't do them myself but if your mom does it… I'll keep them for the day at least."

Satisfied, Shikamaru tugged her towards the door again only the be stopped by a cry of "Naruto! Shikamaru!"

The pair turned to Sakura running towards them down the hall. The pink haired girl huffed as she came to a stop in front of the couple. "Good morning! Your hair is cute Naruto! Did you do that yourself?"

The jinchuuriki turned pink as she tugged again on a pigtail, "Shika's mom did it this morning."

Sakura gave an amused grin as she continued, "Well I like it." She turned her gaze to the brunet, "How are you feeling Shikamaru-kun?"

He looked mildly unimpressed, _'How is anyone so chipper this early?'_ and sighed, "Fine, dinner was good last night."

He saw her blink before comprehension dawned across her face. He had given her the standard code phrase for a medical clear in an undercover op.

' _Clever.'_ Sakura mused, he was right; you could never be too sure who was listening. Especially in a building like this, so close to the Hokage tower.

The three of them turned and entered their classroom together. Only Sasuke, along with a handful of civilian children were present. They seamlessly took their seats in a manner that wouldn't look too suspicious at Shikamaru's suggestion. Sasuke was by the window in the second row as per usual and Sakura sat next to him. Shikamaru and Naruto sat in the third row directly behind the other couple (Naruto was on the inside to leave a spot for Chouji on the brunet's other side).

Sakura decided to respond in the same fashion as they sat, "The weather's nice today." ( _When are we meeting?)_

Shikamaru shrugged, "As long as the birds fly." _(Noon, on roof.)_

The code had been developed shortly prior to Naruto's return from his training mission with Jiraiya in their original time so they didn't have to worry about anyone understanding them, yet at least.

The morning crept by with predictable slowness, Shikamaru decided to take advantage of his newfound youth by taking a nap while Naruto began crafting spitballs. One found its way into Sasuke's hair, earning her a hissed "Dobe!" before she grinned and found a new target.

By the time lunch finally came, the entire class was quite fed up with the blonde troublemaker and rushed to leave the classroom. Shikamaru made an excuse to Chouji as they filed towards the door however, Iruka chose that moment to speak up.

"Naruto-chan, stay for a moment."

Naruto's heart constricted for a moment as she looked towards Shikamaru. This was the first time Iruka had singled him -her- out since their return having mostly slipped under the radar for the whole previous week. Shika returned her gaze and inclined his head to let her know that they would be waiting on the roof before she steeled herself and turned towards their beloved sensei.

"How are you feeling? You seemed kinda in the dumps last week, I thought Sandaime-sama might have scolded you again. You seem like your normal trouble making self now though, I noticed you're wearing your pigtails again today. I'm glad!" A warm smile had spread across Iruka's face and at once he -she- was struck with how _young_ their sensei was again, barely twenty. He also had an entire future laid ahead of him again. Then the last thing he said registered in her mind.

Naruto blushed and tugged on a pigtail for what felt like the thirtieth time that morning. "Y-yoshino-san did them." Why did everyone have to mention his -her- hair?! Despite that, the girl was quite glad Iruka had held him -her- back, she had been starting to think that his -her- counterpart didn't have the same relationship with the man as he had.

"Shikamaru's mother?" The chunin was surprised as he didn't know that Naruto had any contact with any adults outside of himself, the Sandaime, and the Ichiraku's. But the girl in front of him nodded and ploughed on, seemingly oblivious to his surprise.

"Yeah, I uh, was invited for dinner at Shika's last night and his mom insisted I stay. Then she did this this morning." A small hand waved towards her hair and the blush intensified.

He had noticed the developing crush from the young Nara but didn't realize that Naruto had. Diving for the chance to embarrass his adorable imouto he went in for the kill.

"Oh, _Shika_ is it now Naruto-chan? Does someone have a little boyfriend?" Iruka teased in a sing-song voice but imagine his shock when, instead of the sputtering denial he had expected, the blonde simply blushed harder and tugged again on a pigtail. No _way._ The brunet gaped, "When did that happen?!"

"Yesterday." Came the innocent reply. _'Three years ago, you had the same reaction then.'_ Naruto added mentally, becoming amused with her sensei's responses.

Now it was the Umino's turn to sputter. On one hand he was happy that the girl was finding friends, kami knows she needed some, but on the other… She was ten! His little imouto was far too young to be thinking about boys like that!

However, before he was able to form a coherent rebuttal Naruto had pasted her signature foxy grin across her face and started to bounce towards the door. "Sorry Iruka-sensei but I gotta go for lunch now! Smell ya later!"

As the blonde bundle of energy disappeared down the hallway Iruka breathed a heavy sigh, he was getting too old for this.

* * *

Naruto stepped out onto the roof, the conversation with Iruka had taken longer than he -she- would have liked. They were pressed for time as it was, only being allocated a half hour lunch break. She found Sasuke and Sakura sitting on the steps where they had met Kakashi for the first time while Shikamaru was lazing in a reclined position gazing at the clouds overhead.

The jinchuuriki was about to speak when a hand sign from the brunet stopped her. _Enemy check._ Huh? Oh, right. They didn't have a specific hand sign for _check for eavesdropper_ so that was as close as he could get. He -she- closed her eyes and expanded her senses, her negative emotion sensing was mercifully still intact when she called upon it. They were clear. Naruto gave them a nod as she approached and sat beside her pint sized lover.

The Nara heir hummed in thought before speaking, "How many shadow clones do you think you could create Nikkō-chan?"

The blonde blinked at the unexpected question and gauged her chakra stores, "Uh… Maybe a few dozen without Kurama." She screwed up her nose, "That's pathetic. Why?"

Sasuke scoffed, only Naruto would think that a few dozen shadow clones was a paltry amount.

"I have an idea. Create four clones and henge them into us. They'll take our place this afternoon."

The three other children grinned (or smirked in Sasuke's case) finally! Action!

Naruto quickly brought her fingers together in a cross seal, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

But nothing happened.

"What the?" The blonde was flummoxed, there was the right amount of chakra, the intent, the words (despite not strictly being necessary with his -her- level of proficiency), the hand signs… The hand signs! "Aw damn, I haven't had to use all of the hand signs for this jutsu since I learnt it!"

The plain looks she received from all corners spurred the girl to try again, this time with the full set of hand signs, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and suddenly four extra blondes joined them on the roof with a puff of smoke, four extra _male_ blondes.

The male Naruto's looked at each other, at their creator and promptly smacked their foreheads, "Aw fuck." Came four simultaneous groans.

"Well Naruto-chan it looks like you have accepted your new age at least!" Sakura chimed in, attempting to be positive. However, the jinchuuriki sighed and waved a hand at the four male doppelgangers, they immediately henge'd into their targets leaving a twin for each of them.

Shikamaru took Naruto's hand in support as he spoke, "We'll leave the clones here for the afternoon and on non-physical days: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday mornings. Now let's go to a more private location, any suggestions?"

"My apartment. Mine is bigger than the dobe's anyway." Sasuke volunteered.

"Hey!" All five Naruto's retorted, reacting to the unintentional dick joke. The raven rolled his eyes, "Girl, dobe. Really."

Naruto fumed but turned to leave when Shikamaru tugged on his -her- hand. They had more important things to do. They left the clones with specific instructions to act as much like their assigned person as possible and only dispel when they were certain there was no one around. Without further delay they made their way off the roof and separated.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later they convened inside the last Uchiha's kitchen, Sakura and Sasuke began pulling out ingredients for their lunch while Naruto erected the privacy seal. They had decided to make sandwiches on the way over. The quartet leisurely set and sat at the table to eat with apples and milk to accompany the sandwiches.

As they finished they looked towards the Nara who sighed heavily and began speaking. " First things first, I need a bit more information. Uchiha, where did you get the Hawk summoning contract?"

Sasuke blinked, that was not where he expected this conversation to start off. "Uh… Is that really relevant?"

Shikamaru levelled an unimpressed stare as if to say, _'Would I be asking if it wasn't?'_

The raven frowned and let out a suffering sigh, "I reverse-summoned myself." After seeing two shocked faces from Sakura and Naruto (That could be incredibly dangerous!) he continued. "After I killed Itachi and learned the truth I was pissed at myself for going to Orochimaru and wanted to erase as much of him from my life as possible; including the snake summon. However, you can't un-sign a summon contract so I decided to get a second summon contract to avoid using the snakes." That earned him an understanding smile and a squeezed hand from one girl and a solid thump on the shoulder form the other.

"I see." Shikamaru continued on, "Do you think you could do it again?"

"Hn." Sasuke agreed, "After I regain my chakra levels anyway."

The brunet considered for a moment, he had figured as much but that made the immediate plan clear. "As far as I can see, right now we have one actionable goal: Train like our lives depend on it with a focus on increasing our chakra levels and control as much as physically possible. Then, when we are ready or specifically when Sasuke is ready, he will reverse summon himself and sign the Hawk summoning contract. Then, using that contract, we contact Itachi. Our total time limit for this phase will be two years but I suspect that Itachi may be able to be contacted before that time."

A determined grin stretched across the Uchiha's face as he listened to the first part of Nara's plan, he already approved, _'We'll see each other soon, Aniki. I'm going to shoot for a year.'_ He quickly shook himself free of his thoughts as Shikamaru continued.

"Our immediate goal in training will be to each learn the shadow clone jutsu. We should be sending our own clones to the academy, they can better imitate us and give us the memories instead of relying solely on Naruto."

Shikamaru glanced up at their faces. A mix of emotions splayed across their faces, Sasuke's was as close to giddy as he had ever seen it, Sakura sported an agreeable smile while his own blonde seemed confused.

"Nikkō-chan?"

"We're not gonna tell Hokage-jiji? Or Kakashi-sensei?" The blonde blurted.

Shikamaru ran a soothing hand over the girl's arm, he had expected this. "It would be best to wait until team placements to tell Kakashi so we can contain and convince him appropriately if needed. As for the Hokage…" He groaned, this was so troublesome. "I need to wait and gather more data before we act. I am unsure about how much power Danzo will have over him right now. And even then, I think it's better if he didn't have to lie to Danzo, as he would have to if we told him."

All members of Team Seven were put on edge at his mention of Danzo. If given the chance he was sure each one of them would relish the chance to torture the man slowly, painfully, then spit in his face as they danced on his grave.

"Okay." Naruto forced out the word through gritted teeth. "Okay." Jiji would have to wait.

* * *

Two hours went by as they discussed their individual training for the next two years. They were mainly prioritizing returning to their original strength and outlining how to do that. However, the main sticking point were the limitations imposed by their prepubescent bodies.

"Look you idiots! It doesn't matter how hard you train! Before we go through fucking puberty again there is a _hard_ ceiling on our strength. Trying to push this limit will be counterproductive and we will get _nowhere!_ "Sakura had strong feelings about the subject as Naruto and Sasuke had descended into squabbling over who was going to get stronger faster. They would never change.

"What is that ceiling Sakura?" Shikamaru intoned from across the room.

The girl pushed a hand through her hair, "That's a bit more complicated and varies for each person. Generally it's about a third of your maximum adult power but honestly with you two-" She gestured to her teammates erratically, "-have gotten so many damn power ups that I doubt that metric works."

"We could use their base strength as a measurement still; chakra levels, speed, physical strength. Not counting sage mode or Mangekyo." The Nara added. "And we can keep an eye out for any plateaus that stick around longer than normal to make sure we don't inadvertently hurt ourselves."

"Can either of you use those powers yet anyway?" Sakura questioned. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other. They didn't know either.

Naruto slipped to the floor cross-legged intent on meditating while Sasuke closed his eyes and focused. Soon the raven shook his head. "I can feel that the ability is there but I don't have the chakra to activate it."

Their eyes then turned to the girl sitting stone still on the floor. The only indication that she was alive was the steady rise and fall of her chest. Five minutes later she opened her eyes and an irritated look crossed her face.

"It's like it's right there but I can't grab it! I can feel it in the air all around me but it slips through my fingers. Ugh!"

Sakura hummed, "That sounds like a control problem to me." She turned her eyes to Shikamaru, "I think it's clear that our main problem is chakra at the moment."

The Nara nodded, "So, shall we begin?"

"Huh?" Naruto looked at her brunet quizzically and judging from the silence of her teammates, they were also confused.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Shadow clones. You're going to teach us Nikkō-chan. Well, teach me and Sakura, Uchiha already knows."

"But we don't have enough chakra right now to even attempt that, that's the whole problem Nara." Sasuke interjected, isn't that what they just discussed?

"No, but Naruto does. We can do a chakra transfusion. If Naruto is willing?" His eyes flashed to Sakura who was about to object even as Naruto nodded eagerly. "We'll take it in stages to avoid complications. Naruto, can you build up the required chakra to make one clone in your hand? We're going to use that to sense our target level. We'll practice the hand signs and then use the donated chakra mixed with our own to complete the jutsu."

"But we can't keep using Naruto to provide the chakra for the jutsu." Sakura finally interjected.

The Nara nodded. "It's just until we build up enough chakra ourselves or we graduate. Whichever comes first. We need to do this in order to keep up with the academy as well as train as much as we need to." He ran a hand over his hair, "It's troublesome but necessary. Nikkō-chan?"

Shikamaru extended a hand to the one Naruto had been building up chakra in. He expanded his senses to gauge how much chakra the girl was using, and whoa. That was a lot of chakra for someone so small. A wave of pride ran through him as he continued to hold the blonde's hand, already she was this powerful to call up this much chakra at such a young age. It took his breath away. But he had to focus, the amount of chakra required for the jutsu was easily three times what he currently held if not more. This might take a while.

He caught Naruto's sky blue eyes and squeezed her hand before letting go, "Show the others now."

Sakura and Sasuke took turns feeling the amount of chakra required for the technique (Sasuke with his sharingan activated), both had slightly grim looks on their faces.

Finally, Sakura broke the silence, "That is a lot of chakra for these bodies."

They all hummed in response, they had a lot of work to do. The blonde proceeded to show them the hand seals and described what she did and felt using the jutsu to help as much as possible. Eventually, Sasuke seemed to be willing to give it a shot.

"Hn, Dobe." Naruto looked over to her adoptive brother, "I copied the jutsu -again- when you did it earlier. Let's see if I can make this work." His smirk brought out another in Naruto as they both stood.

They pushed the coffee table aside to clear room and got into position. Naruto stood behind the Uchiha and placed a hand on each shoulder blade. At the raven's signal she began pumping the required chakra into his body.

Sasuke shuddered slightly, there was a lot of power coursing through his ten-year-old body. He grabbed the chakra and embedded it into his own system, purifying and channeling it around his body as he ran through the hand signs. He released the power and… nothing. A cloud poof-ed into existence in front of him but nothing remained after it dispersed.

"Shit." He had released it too early, without mixing in his own chakra. "Again."

The power filled him up once again, stifling for this body but he persevered. He channeled it for longer this time, mixing in his own chakra to supplement. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

This time a perfect replica of himself appeared when the smoke cleared.

"Yay! Way to go Anata! You did it!" Que his wife being his own personal fan club. However, unlike when he was actually ten, this managed to procure a blush from both him and his clone.

Sakura giggled at the embarrassed "Tsuma…" she received in stereo before standing up. "Alright boys." She hip-checked both of her husbands out of the ways (dispelling one) before positioning herself in front of Naruto. "My turn."

She had been watching the full set of seals carefully and had seen Naruto perform the jutsu for years, she was pretty confident she could pull this off.

"Hit me Naruto."

The pressure was intense, like fire racing through her chakra coils as they raced to accommodate almost four times her normal chakra load. She grunted as she steeled herself. Sakura forced the chakra to move around her system, mixing and melding with her own chakra before she gathered it to prepare for the jutsu. She hesitated for one more moment to ensure everything was prepared before she completed the hand signs and released the perfect amount of combined chakra. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A second later everyone was seeing double. Sakura blinked. She did it! "Yatta!" She high fived her clone as her friends congratulated her from behind.

"Hn. Good work, Tsuma. Exceptional chakra control even at ten." Sakura preened slightly, it wasn't all the time Sasuke gave her such an open compliment. She flounced over to the couch and flopped down heavily next to Sasuke, dispersing her clone as she went. "Thank you, Anata." She quickly kissed his cheek (ignoring Naruto who was mime-retching where she stood) and looked towards Shikamaru.

"Yeah, yeah. My turn."

The brunet stood in front of his pint sized lover and braced himself. His chakra control was good but not on the same level as Sakura, especially at this age, and he didn't have the genetic edge that Sasuke employed. He gave Naruto a nod and braced himself further as Naruto placed her hands on his shoulders. Soon enough he felt the burn of Naruto's chakra burning through his system and stretching chakra network. He breathed harder as he attempted to accommodate the burden. Damn it! He had such little chakra! He grunted as he felt the chakra slip away from him, expelling out of his body as he fell to his knees with a grunt.

"Damn it!" Shikamaru cursed as he punched the floor. Three gazes were settled on him with varying levels of concern on their faces. He noticed Sasuke's sharingan was unsurprisingly activated, presumably to figure out what happened, the Uchiha was normally more curious than he let on after all. His inspection was arrested as Naruto knelt next to him.

"Shika?" Worried blue eyes gazed into his, "You okay? What happened?" She was still a little freaked about the seizure he had yesterday. Understandable, he would be worried if the same thing had happened to her. But he just grit his teeth and stood, he couldn't afford to be a weak link in their team.

"I'm fine. Let's try again."

He could still feel her worried stare as he took a breath and tried to relax. He gave her another nod as the blonde once again placed her hands on his back. This time he anticipated the burn underneath his skin and felt a bit more in control. He was able to circulate the chakra and began mixing in his own before he lost his grip on it this time. Once again sending him to his knees.

"It's fine." Shikamaru gave an aborted wave before Naruto could kneel again and pushed back to his feet. At least there was some improvement.

The third and fourth attempts were incrementally better and by the fifth time he was able to get halfway through the hand signs before his control slipped away.

"Fuck! Off!" His patience was wearing thin and he forced himself to take several centering breaths, there was no way he would be able to do this if he let his frustration get the best of him. Still, he persevered and stood again as a bead of sweat slipped down his face.

Sasuke silently observed the Nara as he struggled to handle the vast quantity of chakra overwhelming his system, knowing that any acerbic comment from him would be severely unwelcome. He could practically feel Sakura twitch next to him with the urge to examine Shikamaru as he once again rose back to his feet. He had to give it to the other male, at least he was stubborn enough to be able to handle Naruto, even if this was bordering on painful. The raven would have already interjected if he had not observed what he had with his sharingan. With any luck this time the lazy ass would get it, he had a theory to propose.

"Again."

The brunet was once again ready and in position as Naruto cautiously placed her hands once again on his back. Shikamaru tensed for a moment and then forced himself to relax. The now familiar stretch spread through every part of his body and this time it felt easier, just as every attempt had felt to the one previous. Curious but analysis would have to wait for later. He began circulating and mixing the chakra before starting the seals. _'Finally.'_ He completed the last seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

And out of the poof of smoke stood his perfect lookalike. Before he could do much but sigh in relief a small blonde with pigtails was pasted to his side.

"Yay Shika! You did it!"

Impulsively he grabbed her and spun her around as he dispelled the clone, relishing the giggles that fell out of her mouth. It felt like years since he had heard that sound, sure the giggles he remembered were of a much lower note but that hardly mattered. Naruto laughing would bring him joy no matter what form it took.

Shikamaru set her down and kissed her hair as Sasuke cleared his throat. At once he was both embarrassed and grateful that the Uchiha hadn't spoken through his attempts, he would have to do better.

Sasuke inclined his head, intuitively acknowledging the Nara's feelings, "There was one thing I noticed through all of this." He paused as he caught everyone's attention. "It seems that when Naruto pushes excess chakra through our systems they stretch to accommodate the increased load. What's more interesting is they don't completely go back to their previous size."

Sakura caught on, "So, you think that if we do this regularly, in short bursts like using this jutsu, we can naturally and quickly expand our chakra stores permanently?"

He spared a warm look for his wife, "Exactly Tsuma. Though you may want to look over Nara. I think he may have over done it a tad."

Shikamaru hummed in contemplation as Sakura waved her glowing hands over him. This was interesting news. If they could use this to their advantage they might be able to gain chakra stores much quicker than he had anticipated, speeding up their plans. He turned his gaze to the still widely grinning Naruto next to him and tightened his resolve.

Yeah, they may have accidently found a short cut but he still had a long way to go. He couldn't afford to be lazy. Not anymore.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, a bit slow but there were a few things I had to develop, next chapter will have more action.

Once again I am accepting requests for any intro back flash that you may desire. I will work it in somewhere if I can make it fit into my fic.

A big shout out to zeynel for a wonderful and hilarious suggestion that I will most likely be using in the future. Thank you!

Please review, they are love and make me update sooner!

Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 6: Tohubohu

**A/N:** Hello everyone! Welcome to another installment of Soul Matrix! Thank you to everyone for your reviews, they give me life ^_^

So this time were covering a lot of ground and getting things moving, hope you like it!

"talking"

 _'thinking'_

 **'Kurama talking'**

 _ **'Kurama thinking'**_

* * *

Soul Matrix

Chapter 6

Tohubohu

* * *

 _1 Month After Kaguya's Defeat:_

When Sasuke finally came to it was a gentle awakening. At first he felt like he was floating, then he became aware of the soft mattress beneath his body and that his closed eyelids let in soft light. Smell was next, the antiseptic smell not as strong here as he thought it would be. Oddly, he became aware of the sounds last, contrary to what was supposed to happen. Perhaps his mind was just trying to block it out, to give him moment more rest before having to rejoin the world around him.

He felt no pain as he opened his eyes and turned his head towards the sounds and was greeted by the sight of Naruto and Sakura bickering quietly. Naruto was seated on the bed next to his, apparently someone had the brilliant idea to put the two idiots who tried to kill each other in the same room to recover. Sasuke instantly blamed Sakura. But, at the same time, he was grateful. He felt like he was finally able to move on. Here was the man whom had never stopped believing in him and had beat him to within an inch of both of their lives to make him believe too and the woman who actually kept them from killing each other. She was the most sensible of the three of them and had the strength to back it up, how she how grown.

They hadn't noticed he was awake yet. However, a certain silver haired former copy nin on his other side did.

"Maa maa Sasuke, I'm glad your trip finally led you back home."

Sasuke looked at the older ninja carefully but found him honest enough. "Thank you Kakashi-sensei" he paused and swallowed before adding, "I think that I was trying to find my way home for so long that I forgot what it looked like." His dark eyes lingered first over one-armed blond wonder in the next bed before settling on a head of pale pink hair treating him. "But, I remember now."

He felt a pat on his head and he whipped it around to look at Kakashi once more. "Good."

Now the silver haired man smiled with both eyes as he looked over his team, complete once more.

* * *

 _Present Day:_

Shortly after Shikamaru finally succeeded in channeling Naruto's chakra into a shadow clone Naruto felt the first of her original clones dispel.

"Huh, Shika." The boy turned to look at her, distracted from the conversation. "Chouji invited you over for dinner tonight, you're heading over to his place now."

At his confused look she elaborated, "Your clone told my clone because he couldn't dispel. We should probably switch you out for the clone."

As they were heading towards the door Naruto informed Sasuke and Sakura that their clones had dispelled as well so they were free to leave as well. Nothing interesting had happened to them at the academy that afternoon.

A moment later, they were alone. Sakura sighed and shuffled into Sasuke's left side, she felt a very real arm wrap around her and guide her closer. She idly traced patterns on the hand wrapped around her and was glad for the millionth time that she didn't have to make those nasty prosthetics anymore. Right now, they had about two hours before her parents would expect her home.

"It's still surreal isn't it?"

Sasuke looked up at the sound of her voice, still so young without the lower notes her teenaged years had brought her.

"Yeah. She's so tiny. You're so tiny. I swear we were twice as tall." Sasuke muttered into her hair, causing her to giggle.

"It's still strange, seeing him as a girl. Those pigtails today!" Sakura mused, "I'm surprised you didn't say anything."

"Hn." Truly, he didn't want to make fun of his sister yet. He could tell that she was still very uncomfortable with the situation. The appearance of the male shadow clones just reinforced that. But Naruto was strong and she would accept it and turn it into a strength in time, like he had always done. Until then, the best way he knew how to help was to stay silent on the matter. The Dobe always gave him ample other material to tease her with anyway.

"But," Sakura continued seeing that she wasn't going to get a further response, "I wish we didn't have to hide like this."

Sasuke squeezed her hand, "It's only until we make genin Tsuma. We need to make sure we are on the same teams as before."

The girl sighed, "I know. I just don't like it." However, a wicked grin stretched across her round face in a startling imitation of a certain foxy individual. "Though it is funny that I can make you blush now with my fake fangirling."

 _That_ discovery last week had made her giddy and enabled her to win lunch for three days in a row.

That caused Sasuke to sigh and he poked her in the side with his other hand. This caused her to giggle and then laugh uncontrollably has he kept up his tickling tirade.

It was nice to hear that sound again. It had been so long.

* * *

 _Present Day, 1 Month in New Timeline:_

Naruto decided to start his -her- tirade against the jonin hopefuls of Konoha gently. If gentle could be described as booby trapping every academy instructor's flak jacket to explode with a brightly dyed, hard to wash off powder. The prank was timed for exactly one thirty in the afternoon, just as everyone was starting to feel sleepy after lunch but before their target practice started.

This was her first prank since returning to the past and the blonde felt that people had gotten a little too complacent. She couldn't disappoint Shikaku-san now could she? Time to shake things up.

She sat in her regular seat next to a dozing Shikamaru, looking for all the world that she was also indulging in a nap. What they couldn't see was her left eye just cracked behind wave of hair, patiently waiting for the decided time. She had not told her time travelling teammates, both because she wanted to see their honest reactions and she didn't want to get chastised for using seals for such a ridiculous purpose. Granted, he -she- had taken extra measure to ensure that no one could tell it was a seal, but they would probably still say it was too much of a risk. Bah, what do they know? They had been stressed as hell for so long and now there was a little time to relax.

' **Heh, what's a fox that doesn't cause a little mischief now and then, eh kit?'**

Naruto smirked, five seconds till detonation. _'You got that right, Kurama.'_

Suddenly, several loud pops followed by outraged yells were heard throughout the academy. In front of the room Iruka was covered in neon orange. It was in his hair, up his nose, all across his front, and even in his ears! The jinchuuriki howled with laughter as the young instructor was still sputtering, attempting to remove all traces of the powder from his various orifices. Soon the rest of that class was broken out of their shocked stupor and chortled along with her.

Shikamaru looked over at his rosy cheeked girlfriend. One eye was still closed and his head resting on a hand but a soft smile was on his face. These pranks were ridiculous but if he got to see that way she lit up a room when she smiled like that… well, he wouldn't put up a fight.

"NARUTOOOOOOO!" Ah, it seemed that their esteemed sensei finally resumed control of his faculties. The Nara gave a small wave as the blonde girl jumped out of her seat and made a mad dash to her window escape. He would see her after class, his parents wanted her over for dinner again.

That evening, Konoha's resident troublemaker earned a proud and approving look from the Nara clan head. And when Shikaku mussed her hair like a proud father, her smile cast a light so bright that even the shadows were radiant.

Days in pigtails: 6

Naruto catching missions: 1

Jonin's promoted: 0

* * *

 _Present Day, 2 Months in New Timeline:_

' _I can't believe it's been two months already. And I still can't believe these skirt things are so easy to fight it. The flexibility!'_ Naruto thought as she ducked under a punch aimed at her head from Sakura. She spun around and ran up the tree behind her only to flip in midair to try to land on the other girl. Sakura somersaulted to the side and pushed into a defensive position a few feet away breathing heavily.

"Time out?"

Naruto nodded, she was a bit winded him-her-self and the sun was high in the sky, it was probably time for lunch anyway. Tucking her hair behind an ear (not up in pigtails today), she mentioned this to Sakura before turning to where the boys were located.

"Hey! Guys! Lunch!" She yelled across the training field at the two boys sparring, or grappling? Had they been arguing again? Sasuke had been trying for over a week to increase their 'chakra flooding sessions' as Shikamaru had termed them, to a daily occurrence in order to skip even more class. However, the Nara had been adamant that the security risk was too high and there might be unintended health effects to using the technique so often (which Sakura was still on the lookout for). Either way, they didn't seem to have heard him -her-.

"HEY IDIOTS!" Naruto flinched hard as a sonic boom erupted from Sakura's mouth. The disturbance did manage to get Sasuke and Shikamaru to disengage though so she couldn't really complain.

"Lunch!"

Thankfully, the two boys began walking across the field towards them peacefully enough though they were glaring at each other (well Sasuke was glaring, Shikamaru merely looked irritated). However, nothing was said about their disagreement as they sat down to eat.

The field they were using was contained within the Uchiha clan grounds. They had chosen the location as no one but Sasuke was supposed to have access to the grounds so it was unlikely that anyone would stumble across them here. In addition, Naruto had erected several privacy and containment seals along the perimeter of the field which hid the use of chakra and didn't allow any sound or visual to escape the area. The jinchuuriki had perfected these seals during the second war and were a primary reason they were able to stay ahead of Kaguya for so long. It also didn't hurt that the paranoid Uchiha bastards had general anti-espionage seals already worked into their land which prevented long range information gathering techniques (like the Sandaime's crystal ball) from working.

After their meal they began chakra control exercises. Specifically, Sasuke, Sakura, and Shikamaru were re-learning water walking on the nearby lake. The three had to continually re-learn the techniques as the chakra flooding kept expanding their stores faster than they were able to accommodate. They had also learned over the previous couple months that if they didn't do this on the same day as the flooding their stores would go back to normal overnight. Overall it was a fairly stringent process that left little variability in their weekday training regimens. But the benefits did pay off, they were nearly at two thirds of their original graduation level as opposed to half when they arrived.

Meanwhile, Naruto meditated under the watchful eye of a clone (a dozen others were performing katas some way off), attempting to once again unlock nature chakra. Since she didn't have the benefit of chakra flooding to increase her stores so that would just have to happen naturally, but she didn't have to get soaked like her teammates either so she counted it as a win for now.

A couple hours later a damp Shikamaru plopped down on his back beside her, his chakra was mostly spent and he wanted to soak up some sun and dry out before he had to go home. Sasuke and Sakura also came in off the lake and were doing cool down stretches a little way away. Lazily, he turned his head to gaze at her. The afternoon sun did things to her longer hair that sent his stomach into pleasant twists. He had always loved that blonde hair but there was something about tucking a strand of it behind an ear that warmed his heart. Or maybe it had something to do with the way it revealed the sky blue eyes behind them.

Either way, Shikamaru wanted to push that wayward lock behind Naruto's ear but he was feeling so damn tired. _'Maybe…'_ The distance wasn't too far and he wasn't _that_ low on chakra, just down to about a quarter. _'I'm sure I can use my shadow stitching technique.'_ Carefully, Shikamaru sent a tendril of his shadow up his love's side, intent on that strand of hair. Just as his shadow was about to reach it's destination he felt it. A strange feeling of otherness settled in his stomach and there was a bizarre glow about Naruto's head. Was that supposed to be there?

Shikamaru blinked, something wasn't right. His shadow just finished tucking the strand when his vision started to go dark. He saw a flash of blue and heard a strangled yell before he knew no more.

Sometime later he opened his eyes to the ashy face of his beloved. His head felt like it was trying to split in two and his limbs ached.

"Wha-" Shikamaru had to couch to clear his throat, "What happened?" He croaked, struggling to find a sitting position. Naruto quickly got an arm around him, letting the boy lean into her side as Sasuke handed him water.

He noted that Sakura was also now by his side, looking decidedly worried as she tried to find the right words. "You had another seizure. Naruto had to stimulate your chakra core again to meld your soul back together. It was…" again she struggled for words, "Frayed, I guess is the closest I can come to describing it. I tried doing it myself this time but it only seems to respond to Naruto's chakra mixed with the Kyuubi's."

"You gave us quite the scare, Nara." The raven spoke up as Sakura finished speaking. "Do you know what triggered it?"

Shikamaru took another sip of water, feeling Naruto shift behind him before answering, "Not really. I was using my shadow stitching technique to-" He blushed lightly, "To play with Naruto's hair because I was too lazy to lift my arm. Then nothing."

Naruto turned bright red at his admission and Sakura gave him an indulgent smile _'They are so cute!'_ while Sasuke snorted softly.

"Well, it sounds like your clan techniques may have a roll in triggering your seizures. As your physician, I am restricting you from using them until we figure this out." The pink haired girl stated.

"What?!" The Nara jerked forward, sending Naruto tumbling to the ground behind him. "You can't-!" His mind was racing, that couldn't be it! "I use the techniques during my clan training with my father every Saturday, I don't see how they are the cause!" He spoke hurriedly, what good was a Nara without their shadows?

Sakura's jade green eyes bore into him, turning over his words. He was struck, not for the first time, that she was regarded as just as capable as her teammates. Possessing a superior intellect with almost unfathomable skills in the healing arts while still being a formidable frontline fighter made her a force of nature unto herself. And Shikamaru had just called one of those skills into question, he gulped.

"Then tell me," She spoke gravely, "What is different about this time? Why did it occur now instead of with your father?"

Shikamaru's mind twisted and turned to find the answer, his hands came together in and 'O' shape to signify just how in depth he was thinking. He tried to recall every instance, every detail that was both similar and different between now and all those times before.

"Chakra level." The brunet finally ground out a few minutes later. "Before, my levels were always above half when using my clan jutsu. Right now they are just under a quarter."

Sakura nodded at his findings, that was also plausible given the nature in which the soul fraying is repaired. "All right then, that will be our new working theory. I'll revise: No more using clan jutsu below half chakra levels until we can put a stop to this!"

Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief, he would have to be careful but he could work within this restriction.

' _For now anyway.'_ He thought as he felt small hand squeeze his own in comfort. He looked into those big blue eyes, he was sure they would find a solution. _'I can't keep scaring her like this.'_

Days in pigtails: 17

Naruto catching missions: 2

Jonin's promoted: 1

* * *

 _Present Day, 3 Months in New Timeline:_

Naruto sat in the middle of the clearing, once again meditating as his -her- teammates worked on chakra control around her. And again, the ability of grasping the nature energy all around her was escaping him -her-. She breathed suffering sigh and opened her eyes. It wasn't nearly this hard before. Already, the blonde had completed all forms of traditional chakra control (tree climbing, water walking, etc.) and they were now in maintenance as her chakra stores grew naturally.

' _This isn't working, Kurama.'_ Her eyes drifted lazily from Shikamaru laying perfectly still on top of the water while Sasuke and Sakura raced around him.

' **Perhaps it might be more fruitful to work on your wind chakra for now. There is always the possibility that you may have to wait for the toad contract before you are able to access that power again.'** Responded the great beast, shifting lazily. He was tired at his hosts lack of progress, he had an inkling of what might be wrong but at the moment his suppositions would just distress the kit.

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki closed her eyes once again and descended into his -her- mind. A moment later, the same azure eyes stared out into a dark abyss from the face of a young boy. Steadily, her inner self had been growing younger, adapting to the new situation that they found themselves in. The gender of this inner self remained the same, however.

The only light in the mindscape threaded through the forest off in the distance and bounced off the hulking form of the Kyuubi, sitting in front of the child, causing his fur to give off and ethereal glow. The great fox placed his head on his front paws and trained one blood red eye on his host.

" **You are moping, kit."** He growled, **"Why?"**

Naruto shifted uncomfortably where he stood. He is the one that decided to come here, he knew he could talk to his demon about things he would never mention to another soul. The blonde sighed again before trudging forward and curling himself up by the side of Kurama's face on top of one great paw, sandwiched between the fanged cheek and a sharp talon.

"I'm not making any progress in my training, I've stagnated." The boy squeezed his eyes closed and buried his face into the fox's fur, letting out shuddered breath. "And-" he hiccupped. "I screwed up transferring Shikamaru's soul to the point where he can't use his family jutsu after a certain point. That is so dangerous and I have no idea how to fix it!"

" **Hush, kit. You saved him didn't you? You saved all of them and they are still with you, still your family. You have done well."**

"But that could still get him killed, Kura-nii." Naruto buried his face farther into the great beast's fur, seeking the warmth there. Oh, it was bad if the kit was calling him that name.

" **Have you given up already? After all that we've been through?"**

Naruto froze, eyes wide but unseeing. Was he -she- giving up? The words were foreign and every fiber of his being was repulsed at the very thought. "Never." He whispered out.

"Never." Louder this time as he pulled his face out from being engulfed by the red strands.

"Never! I will never give up!" The defiance returned to those azure eyes as the small body returned to standing in front of the bijuu.

" **Then what are you going to do about it?"** The kit needed to come to the conclusion on her own or she might be stuck on this road block forever.

"Try something new. If sage arts aren't coming to me then there are plenty of other things I can be working on." A small hand raked through his hair, not noticing that it was slightly longer than how he had worn it at this age. "And if seals got us into this mess, maybe they can get us out, 'ttebayo!"

Kurama grinned as his container faded from view. That wasn't too hard was it?

Days in pigtails: 27

Naruto catching missions: 2

Jonin's promoted: 1

* * *

 _Present Day, 4 Months in New Timeline:_

Sakura focused intently on the arm in front of her. Sasuke had been caught in one of Naruto's undetectable traps _'Seriously, I have no idea how she got around the sharingan.'_ The pink haired girl thought to herself, steadily working her green hands over the slowly healing wound. Her healing was still much slower than it used to be but speed would come in time. Her chakra reserves had increased greatly and were now on par with what she had when she became a genin originally allowing her to heal for much longer than she was able to when she first woke up here in the new timeline.

"She really did number on you, ne Anata?" She glanced up beneath her brow as her husband scowled into the distance, "Hn." Was all she got in response and she chuckled. That look was so cute on his tiny adorable face!

Sasuke's dark eyes surveyed the concentrated form of his wife before looking back over the field, Naruto was now immersed in some complicated looking scroll as Shikamaru laid on the grass beside her, gasping for breath after just finishing fifty laps of the training field. He had to hand it to the other male, he was taking this second chance seriously especially given his handicap.

"Naruto's been really focused on those scrolls lately. She even asked me to let her search through the Uchiha clan library." He commented idly as Sakura began wrapping his wound.

Her jade eyes looked over to the girl and back to Sasuke. "Well her education in sealing is hardly complete. And she is only really proficient in barrier seals because of Kaguya. This must be something she feels that she can throw herself into because the sage training wasn't working."

"But there are still things she needs to re-learn. I haven't seen her make one rasengan since we've come back." Sasuke was a tad concerned, there was something not quite right about the situation.

"Huh? You're right." The girl quirked her head, looking once again over to the blonde. Her eyes held a calculating look. "I think she might be scared."

That earned her a snort. "Naruto? Scared?"

"Because if she can no longer use her sage arts, what else can she not do?"

But Sasuke just shook his head, "You're being dramatic, Tsuma." He grabbed her hand and raised her to her feet as he stood. "Dobe's just being a dobe. She'll snap out of it."

"I hope so." Sakura muttered, but before she could say more a loud squeak erupted from the other side of the training field.

Alarmed, they both turned hastily only to see Shikamaru tickling the life out of the blonde girl, pigtails askew. Apparently he thought she was a bit too serious for the moment too.

Feeling a bit more at ease Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand and led him over to the still giggling pair. "Lunch?"

"Hn."

After lunch Sasuke brokered the question, "Hn, Dobe. Did you forget about your rasengan or something? You haven't even tried making one."

Naruto's head whipped around to stare at the Uchiha, eyes like saucers. _'My rasengan? MY RASENGAN!'_ She scrambled to her feet letting out a small shriek, arm extended in front of her focusing intently on the palm of her hand.

As one, her three companions smacked their foreheads, she _had_ forgotten. Sasuke then threw Sakura a pointed look as if to say _'See?'_ , but Sakura just rolled her eyes and waved her hand, _'Whatever…'_

"Nikko-chan, how the hell do you forget about your signature move?" Shikamaru had figured that the girl had simply been working on it when he wasn't around.

"I don't know, _Shikamaru_! Once you can do something as instinctive as breathing you tend to not really think about it!" She snapped back. Looking down at her hand, there was nothing besides a faint blue glow.

"NNNNOOOoooo!" Well at least she now had something concrete to work on while the others were doing their control exercises.

' _Why didn't you say anything Kurama?'_

The bijuu shuffled, amused. **'Wanted to see how long it would take you to realize.'**

' _You're awful.'_ Only deep growling chuckles permeated her mind.

Days in pigtails: 43

Naruto catching missions: 4

Jonin's promoted: 1

* * *

 _Present Day, 6 Months in New Timeline:_

"Again, Shikamaru." Shikaku called out to his son.

It was Saturday and, as usual, Shikamaru was getting tutored in his clan jutsu by his father. However, his father had been rougher on him than usual which led to the current sticky situation. His chakra was rapidly approaching its halfway point. His clan jutsu was fairly chakra intensive and he feared more than one more usage would put him over the edge.

He had on more seizure since that time a few months ago, partly by accident and partly to confirm his theory. But the main issue here was that the only person here was his father, if he slipped into a seizure again he would need the others here, especially Naruto. But his father was being particularly persistent.

"Stop lazing Shikamaru. I know you're not tired yet. Again." The boy was obviously stalling. He knew that the boy had been training by himself recently, the newly defined muscles peeking out of his rapidly fading baby fat provided more than enough proof. There was no way he could be tired yet. The elder Nara stood straight, arms crossed with his shadow pulsating around his feet. He waited a moment before sending it surging forward only for Shikamaru to dodge.

"Shikamaru, what did I say about that? You have to intercept with your own shadow to improve its dexterity. You know this! Now, boy, do it right!"

Shikamaru ground his teeth, why did his father have to pick today of all days to be a hard ass? But fine. The next time Shikaku sent his shadow he intercepted quickly, as fast as he could push it to minimize chakra usage. He let out a tight breath, still above half chakra, barely. He couldn't do that again.

Shikaku however, raised an eyebrow and let out a low whistle. His boy had been training, and in more than just physical pursuits after all. That was some of the quickest shadow work he had seen from someone under the rank of jonin.

"Ugh, Tou-san. Can we stop yet? I'm tired." Shikamaru whined, trying to get out of using anymore chakra. His mind was whirling through options to get out of this, but Shikaku looked to be having none of it. His curiosity was piqued, he had to get to the bottom of this.

There were other things that had contributed to this moment over the last six months. Ever since that first day when Naruto accompanied his son home had been a turning point for the boy. Shikamaru had been home less than he had ever been and had this strange focused air about him even when he was. Yoshino had simply been happy that her boy seemed to be showing initiative. But there was something going on and he had to figure out what.

"Not yet Shikamaru. Come on, I know you can do more." The elder Nara pushed.

Shikamaru ground his teeth, he had to figure a way out of this without seeming desperate, that would only raise more questions in his father's mind. He went for the diversion.

"But Tou-saaannn. Were already an hour over and Naruto will be coming soon. I wanted to have a shower before she got here." There now hopefully his father would just think he was just excited to see his girlfriend.

Shikaku sighed as his son inched away to go back in the house. He didn't want to have to do this but he wanted to see how he reacted under stress. Just as the boy was turning he commanded his shadow to whip out, careening for the boy.

The younger brunet caught the movement out of the corner of his eye as he turned towards the house. Instincts are hard to suppress, especially after being honed in combat and six months is not enough time to lose them even if he was now in a much smaller body. Unbidden, and without permission, his body reacted to the perceived threat and lashed back at his father's shadow. He turned his face look to see his father, eyes wide in shock as his knees began to buckle. The last thing he saw was Shikaku striding towards him as he landed face down in the dirt, spams already wracking his body.

Meanwhile, Naruto had just arrived at the Nara estate. The blonde had passed Yoshino five minutes prior, the woman had told her to go on in when she arrived as the boys were still training in the backyard. She smiled as she opened the door and removed her shoes, Shikamaru parents had been so wonderful and welcoming over the past several months, he -she- wondered how that would have made a difference the first time around.

' _No use wondering, I have them now.'_ The blonde mused as she wandered through the house, aiming for the backyard. Just as she was reaching the shoji door to exit to the verandah she heard a strangled yell from Shikaku, followed by heavy hurried steps.

A feeling of dread struck through her core as she ripped open the screen and raced towards the pair of Nara. "Shikamaru!" Her voice was thick with trepidation as her small feet pounded the scant distance between her and her currently seizing paramour.

"Oh no." Shikaku looked up at her as she brought her fingers together and hurriedly created two shadow clones with the directions to find Sasuke and Sakura and bring them here. Her and Shikaku's eyes locked and he -she- had never seen a look like that before. The pure unadulterated terror of a parent not knowing what is wrong with their child froze her solid.

"You know what is wrong with him?" Shikaku's gravelly voice barked, the girl knew something and he was getting answers, _now._

The jinchuuriki nodded meekly as she gently rolled the still seizing boy over. "Yes." Her voice was weak, "We need to wait for the seizure to stop and Sasuke and Sakura to get here, then we can explain."

The moment was tense but at about two minutes and forty-five seconds the seizing stopped and finally Shikamaru was still. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank Kami." The girl positioned her hands in the unfortunately familiar position and began channeling chakra.

Shikaku started as the jinchuuriki channeled not only her own but the Kyuubi's chakra as well. What the hell was going on here?

A few moments later Sasuke arrived in the Nara's backyard having been led by the clone. "Fuck." Was all that was said as the raven surveyed the scene and activated his sharingan. "Only about thirty more seconds, Naruto. You're almost done." His eyes flicked to the Nara clan head, this was going to get messy.

The girl hadn't even looked up as the Uchiha arrived and only gave a shallow nod in response. He -she- _hated_ this. She _had_ to find a way to stop this from happening.

Sakura finally arrived just as Naruto finished re-melding Shikamaru's soul together, "Sorry!" she said breathlessly as she dashed around and placed a hand on either side of the prone boys' head. When Naruto told her the length of the seizure her mouth set into a grim line and her eyes closed to focus solely on her patient in front of her. There was a tense silence as her small green glowing hands finished examining and healing his neural pathways and worked their way over the rest of his body. "O-okay." She started carefully, "I've healed most of the damage and tapped into his internal healing mechanism to get the rest however, because of the length pf the seizure he will need more time to recover; he'll be quite tired for the rest of the day at least but he will wake up soon after sleeping for a bit." She took a breath to brace herself before continuing, "They are getting worse. Each time they have gotten slightly longer. I don't know how effective my treatment will stay if they keep up."

"One of you is going to tell me what the _fuck_ is going on. Now." Shikaku finally cut in. He had remained silent thus far because it was ingrained to never interrupt a medic-nin during treatment which, despite her small stature and official rank of academy student, she clearly was. He had had enough of wondering and being curious, this now affected his son's wellbeing and these three were in on it. Whatever 'it' was. Plus, all of them had displayed high aptitude for techniques that were definitely not taught to them at the academy.

Naruto sighed, there was no keeping this from Shikaku now, they would have to come clean. _'It's a miracle we even made it this long without him figuring out honestly.'_ Silently her gaze shifted between her surrogate sister and brother, both nodded their assent in turn before settling on her love's visibly worried father.

"Can we please go inside? It's easier to put up a privacy seal indoors."

Shikaku's eyebrows shot up, ruining his glower. This was far more serious than he thought.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well that's a wrap! And Shikaku is _pissed_. We will see that aftermath of this next time!

As always let me know what you think and if you have any ideas for a particular flashback!

Please Review!


	8. Chapter 7: Verklempt

**A/N:** Hi everyone! Thanks for all of the reviews! So many people were interested in Shikaku's reaction! Well, here it is! It ended up much longer than I expected but I think it needed to be this length to convey all of the emotions going on. Hope you like it!

"talking"

 _'thinking'_

 **'Kurama talking'**

 _ **'Kurama thinking'**_

* * *

Soul Matrix

Chapter 7

Verklempt

* * *

 _10 Months Prior to Kaguya's Return:_

Naruto stared down at the small slip of paper, recently delivered by a slightly pissed off hawk that smelled rather strongly of alcohol.

'Meet me at the Jackdaw. Bring Kakashi.'

The Jackdaw was a bit of a dive bar closer to the civilian part of town than most shinobi liked to go, why the hell would Sasuke want to meet there? And what did he want with Kakashi? Naruto had parted ways with Shikamaru about ten minutes prior so he may as well do as the message said, he hadn't seen the Teme since they made that challenge a couple days ago anyway. The jinchuuriki scrunched his nose, the smell of alcohol wasn't a good sign anyway.

Half an hour later he had managed to track down his deviant former sensei and were walking through door of the dimly lit excuse of a tavern. Kakashi really hadn't been hard to convince; the fact that Sasuke even requested him had piqued his interest.

Together, they wandered around the establishment and found Sasuke propping himself up at a dusty booth in the back, surrounded by four empty glasses. Kakashi took a detour to the bar to get drinks at the sight of the Uchiha, apparently they would need it for this conversation.

"Hey, Teme." Naruto greeted as he slid into the booth opposite the raven. All he got was a grunt in return.

A few minutes passed with the blonde making absolutely no headway before Kakashi sat down and distributed three beers and three waters around the table.

"Sooooo…" The former copy nin started. The most they had gotten out of the former avenger was a drained water glass and a few sips taken from the beer. Sasuke fixed his dark eyes on his former sensei before sliding them over to Naruto.

"Why did I ever listen to you?" His speech wasn't impaired but the slightly glassy look in his eyes told a different story. Neither of the men had seen Sasuke drunk before so this was bound to be an interesting experience.

"Huh?" Came Naruto's very confused response. "What did I do?"

Sasuke shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "Sakura! I – She – Narutoooo!" He actually whined. Kakashi looked quizzically at the blond, he had now gathered that it was probably a team seven thing (why else would he be needed?) but he still didn't know what about.

Meanwhile, Naruto paled several shades. Oh shit. "Oh shit, Sasuke. What happened? Did you chicken out? Did she say yes? Did she say no? Did she _laugh_?!" Questions kept tumbling from his mouth as Sasuke shook his head and finally put his face into his hands.

"Maa maa, Naruto. What am I missing?" Kakashi was done feeling out of the loop.

Naruto shrugged before answering, Sasuke obviously wasn't ready yet. "We uh… challenged each other to finally do something about Shikamaru and Sakura and stop beating around the bush." A blush spread across his whiskered cheeks.

"Oh?"

"Well… I am with Shikamaru now. And Sasuke…?"

Kakashi simply raised an eyebrow, "Shikamaru huh?"

"What?" Naruto retorted, slightly defensive. Was it because they were both guys?

"Oh nothing, good choice." Kakashi took a sip of his beer through his mask. "You'll be good together."

Naruto blushed deeper as Sasuke finally seemed to want to talk.

"Naruto, I… No you can't help." He took another swig. "Kakashi. Why are girls…?"

But Kakashi was utterly lost and gulped beer. "I, uh, can't help you Sasuke."

"Why not?"

"Well-" He began and had to take another gulp of his beer before continuing. "While I don't have a preference per se, females have always disturbed me and I have no experience with them."

Both young men set their wide eyes on their former sensei, that was one of the most personal things they have ever heard him say. The silver haired man just continued to drink his beer.

Naruto was the first to recover and addressed Sasuke. "Come on, Teme. What happened? I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

Kakashi finally set down his drained glass and waited, finally Sasuke mumbled something.

"What was that?"

Sasuke ran another hand through his hair and stole Naruto's untouched beer and spoke louder around the rim. "I asked her to marry me."

"WHAT?!" The blonde half shrieked before catching himself and repeating quieter, "That's exactly what I said you didn't have to do!"

"It just came out! What was I supposed to do? Take it back?!"

Kakashi was simply looking back and forth between his former students talking about their last teammate. "Wait did I hear that right? You asked Sakura to marry you? Our Sakura?"

They both ignored him.

"What did she say?"

Sasuke finally set down the glass as if realizing that this was actually happening. His voice came out just above a whisper but both other men heard it, "She said yes."

His mismatched eyes looked up, going back and forth between the two. They were still a bit glassy but the raven must have upped his chakra output to burn off some of the alcohol. "She said _yes_." While he still sounded mildly terrified there was a small note of wonder there that they hadn't heard before that accompanied a slight quirk of his lips.

A wide grin broke across Naruto's face as he reached across the table and grabbed Sasuke by the shoulder. "Really?! That's great, Teme!"

Kakashi chuckled and echoed the sentiment, their team was crazy. Why did anything surprise him anymore? He was obviously off his game.

"I get to be best man!"

Sasuke finally broke a grin for the first time that night and drank Naruto's water, "Duh, dobe."

* * *

 _Present Day:_

Naruto slapped her small hand down on the coffee table in the middle of the Nara living room, a seal spreading out between her fingers. Shikaku had set a still sleeping Shikamaru down on the couch while he moved to sit in the arm chair at the other end of the room; leaving Sasuke and Sakura to sit together on the loveseat. Naruto straightened as she felt the wards settle into place, they could now speak freely and they would warn her if Yoshino returned. The blonde turned and sat on the couch next to Shikamaru, easing his head into her lap and removing his hair tie so he -she- could run her fingers through it.

Shikaku gave a hard look to each child before settling on the blonde sitting with his son, an eyebrow still approaching his hairline. "Well?"

Naruto sighed throwing a questioning look at Sasuke across from her. He merely shrugged and gave an aborted head twitch. _'Maybe mangekyo… ish? Well that's peachy.'_ They had no real plan about what to do if someone found out. They had played it so close to the chest thus far that there was no way anyone could have connected the dots simply because they hadn't done anything to warrant looking. This was the only chink in their armour and it had been unknowingly , at the same time, Shikaku was hardly the worst person to have found out. He was one of the most intelligent people in the village with uncompromising morals. The only reason Shikamaru didn't want to tell his father in the first place was of his proximity to the Hokage. _'Looks like it' out of our hands now.'_ She mused. There was no way to think up a lie good enough to fool him. And without the mangekyo it was imperative that he believe them, they would not be able to wipe his memory.

Finally, Naruto fixed Shikaku with her blue eyes trying to convey as much sincerity and honesty that she could muster. "You are not going to believe us at first but know that everything said here is the absolute truth. Shikamaru can verify once he wakes up."

Her hands twisted in silky strands as she waited for Shikaku to nod.

"First we might as well start with proper introductions; I am Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze child of Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash Yondaime Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki, former jinchuuriki of Kurama otherwise known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, former apprentice to Jiraiya and Sannin in my own right." Shikaku grew very still but the girl continued, "Over there is one of my teammates Sasuke Uchiha; son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, former avenger and head of the future Uchiha clan, former apprentice to Orochimaru and Sannin in his own right. Beside him is my other teammate and his wife Sakura Uchiha nee Haruno; daughter of Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno, world's greatest medic nin and matriarch of the future Uchiha clan, former apprentice to Tsunade and Sannin in her own right." Shikaku may have stopped breathing as she looked towards the head in her lap, "And this is my lover Shikamaru Nara; son of Shikaku and Yoshino Nara, head of the Nara clan, chief advisor to the Hokage, and finest tactician in all of the shinobi nations."

Naruto took a breath and gestured from her teammates to the still stricken Nara, "Sasuke, Sakura; this is Shikaku Nara; Shikamaru's father, current Nara clan head and jonin commander." Both nodded in greeting. Sakura attempted a smile as the tension level in the room ratcheted up another notch.

"How." The question came out more as a demand than a question as Shikaku finally got his mouth to respond to his brain.

Naruto responded strongly with no hesitation, "We lived through the fourth shinobi war only for our greatest enemy to revive two years later. We didn't expect it and were not prepared, the entire allied shinobi nations were wiped out. All we could do was run and hide as we were hunted down like animals. I created a seal and managed to transport us back here so we can stop it before it starts."

The Nara clan head couldn't handle staying still anymore and shot to his feet, pacing back and forth behind his chair. For the first time since the birth of his son (little bugger caused his mother to be in labour for seventeen hours) he was filled with nervous energy. The unflappable Shikaku Nara was thoroughly shaken. "Why should I believe this? Any of this? It's far more likely that you're some spies that have taken the cover of academy children and have somehow roped my son into doing something dangerous. Why shouldn't I take you in T&I right now?" But even as he said the words he knew that was false, it didn't make any sense.

Which, incidentally, was a sentiment Sasuke echoed. "You know that's wrong. Why would spies try to pull off such a dramatic cover, when a simple lie would work so much better? Or send in such a large team that has regular contact with each other? There are a dozen other reasons but if you're half as smart as Nara Jr. there says you are then you'll have already worked that out my now."

The boy was brazen but Shikaku couldn't fault his logic, his gut twisted knowing deep down that there were too many inconsistencies for there to be another explanation that could contain all of the facts he had already heard and witnessed. There was no logical or even emotionally defensible reason for a sect to choose time travel of all things as a cover. Even so…

He stopped pacing and faced the trio. "Prove it." At the three bewildered gazes he elaborated, "That you are who you say you are. Mainly you two, Uchiha and Naruto. You both have something that is uncopiable. Haruno-san, think of something." The pink haired girl was from a civilian family from what he could remember.

The group nodded. Naruto was a tad hurt that Shikaku was so distrustful but conceded that the man was just acting in the best interests of his own family and village. He -she- would earn back his trust… hopefully. The blonde watched as Sasuke stood first and locked eyes with the man. After a second his eyes slowly bared the sharingan, no one except a full blooded Uchiha was able to turn on and off the famed dojutsu thus proving his identity.

' _Not even Kakashi-sensei can do that_.' Naruto mused, something ticking in the back of her brain.

Just as Shikaku finished observing and was about to dismiss the boy, Sasuke held up his hand; a look of total concentration came across his face as his lids closed. A moment later they opened again revealing the six pointed star of his fully formed mangekyo sharingan. The Nara head blanched at the sight, he had never seen a fully evolved sharingan before now and all doubts about the identity of the boy before him were banished.

However, Sasuke winced and fell to his knees covering his eyes with his hands, "Fuck!" Immediately Sakura went to his side and covered his hands with her own glowing softly, easing his pain and repairing the small amount of damage to the optic nerve. "Still too much chakra, huh?" The raven merely grumbled as she finished and he returned to their seat.

Sakura however, didn't join him. Instead the pink haired girl looked Shikaku right in the nose. "I don't have a fancy kekkei genkai or tailed beast but I was trained by Konoha's Slug Princess so don't you dare underestimate me. Plus, I expect to be addressed by my proper name. Even if we haven't technically signed the paperwork here yet." Sakura's eyes glinted and both Naruto and Sasuke felt the temperature of the room dip several degrees, oh no.

Sasuke merely dropped his head into his hands as Sakura stuck out her arm, sometimes his wife really embarrassed him. "Arm wrestle me."

Shikaku looked at the girl stunned. "What?"

The girl smirked, "Arm wrestle; me, you." She pointed, "That table. I'm just as good as shishou."

"Troublesome." Girls were always so troublesome, and he did ask he supposed. "Fine."

The resulting arm wrestling match was nothing short of ridiculous. Shikaku used every technique he had learned from Chouza (the best arm wrestler he knew) to no avail. Not once did the scrawny girls arm quiver or budge, not even when he used both arms at her suggestion and his utter humiliation. The girl was a monster. Slowly, after two minutes of watching him flounder Sakura grinned and casually pressed his hand into the wood of the table. Sakura preened as she sat back down while Shikaku merely shook the pins and needles out of his hand. Only Tsunade had strength like that, incredible.

Knowing that it was now her turn, Naruto gently removed Shikamaru's head from his -her- lap (a low grunt escaped from his lips, was he awake?) and slipped into a standing position. She placed her hand over the privacy seal still visible on the table and added a layer of chakra containment. Straightening she faced Shikaku and looked him in the eye, trying again to convey as much honesty as possible. She took a breath and addressed Kurama within.

" _Hey Kurama, can I have just enough for the one-tailed cloak?"_ She hadn't used much of his chakra yet since coming back and the seal was still active on this body so she felt it was best to ask.

" **Of course, kit. Make him wet himself a bit for me, would you?"** The great beast chuckled as Naruto huffed back at him wordlessly.

On the outside, the occupants of the room felt the welling up of power. It still dumbfounded the two other members of team seven that their goofy teammate had access to this much chakra at such a young age. Naruto's azure eyes were the first to change, turning a blood red colour with slits for pupils. Her whisker marks grew wider and jagged and nails elongated. Finally, a sinister red chakra created a haze around her skin forming the outline of fox ears and a single gently waving tail behind her. Naruto grimaced before cutting off the chakra. "I hate that form."

Sakura looked quizzical, "Why are you using that form? Your gold glow-y one doesn't hurt you."

The girl shrugged, "I'd have to remove the seal for that and this body isn't up for it yet." _'And it's currently MIA._ ' She added mentally. She returned her gaze to look at Shikaku as her teammates nodded their heads and made up her mind.

Naruto crossed the room quickly (but not too quickly) and wrapped her arms around the elder Nara's stunned middle and buried her face in his shirt. "I'm sorry Shikaku-san, we wanted to tell you but didn't want you to have to lie to Sandaime-jiji. Please forgive Shikamaru at least, if not me. I know this puts you in a risky position." The jinchuuriki finished her unsteady plea by turning her watery eyes towards the man. Over the past few months he -she- had grown to love Shikaku and Yoshino just as much as the rest of her adopted family and it would kill him -her- to lose them over this.

Shikaku stiffened when he first felt the small arms around him. He now fully believed that they were who they said they were but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous. But at the sound of little Naruto's voice, the pleading and the fear overlaying pure hope, he broke a little. He _wanted_ to believe them and believe _in_ them. What parent doesn't want to believe in their children? The ball of sunshine had wormed her way into both his and Yoshino's hearts over the past six months and they had already started thinking of her as one of their own. Now there were just two more children (in his eyes anyway) involved who sounded like they so desperately needed help for all of the bravado that they projected. These four, his son included apparently, had survived horrors he didn't dare dream about and still found enough in them to try again. Maybe it was his latent paternal instincts kicking in but he found himself embracing the small girl. One arm wrapped around her small shaking shoulders and his other large hand cupped the back of her head and pressed her back into his shirt.

"Shh now, Naruto-chan. I believe you. But-" The girl looked up again, eyes bright. "You, all of you," He looked up and was surprised to see his son was also awake but stuck each of them with a firm look nonetheless, "Are going to tell me everything. And I do mean _everything_." His tone left no room for arguments as Naruto returned to the couch, brightening considerably when she saw Shikamaru looking exhausted but upright regardless.

Shikamaru was slightly pissed off however, he had blearily woken just as Sakura had beaten his father and became fully aware during Naruto's display. Thus he had seen the entire interaction between Naruto and his father. "Tou-san, we will tell you. But-" the boy paused, letting everyone know just how serious this was, "Do not upset Naruto like that again. She does in _no way_ deserve that." As insurance he added, "I know what's in the wooden box tucked away on the left shelf if you do. And that will be just the beginning."

Shikaku swallowed hard, yup that was definitely his kid.

Two hours later, Shikaku had gotten the down and dirty explanation of what they were facing. He didn't interrupt and just let them explain, he could feel his blood pressure rising as they finally completed their story.

"And that's how we arrived six months ago. Well I arrived and then had to return the souls to these three." Naruto finished, sticking her thumb at the other three kids in the room. Each of them had filled in the narrative as they went, Shikamaru had left and comeback with snacks at some point, the detritus littered around the table.

Shikaku sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Troublesome. I have so many questions but Yoshino will be back any minute."

The four children started, they had forgotten about her.

"Now I don't like keeping things from my wife, especially when it concerns our son. No matter how old you actually are." He shot at Shikamaru who had the courtesy to at least blush before he continued, "But this is your secret and I'll leave it up to the four of you to decide whom you tell."

The four looked at each other, communicating silently. Sakura nudged Sasuke who tilted his head at her before nodding to the younger Nara while Naruto squeezed his hand, he could decide and they would support him. Shikamaru's lips thinned before he spoke to his father, "We'll tell her."

Shikaku nodded but Naruto interrupted before he could speak, "She's here, good thing we figured that out."

Both Nara's flinched, this was going to be a long night.

* * *

In the end it wasn't quite as horrible as they thought. Sasuke and Sakura had decided to leave before seeing Yoshino to make the explanation easier on the woman- Naruto wasn't sure if she was grateful for their consideration or exasperated at their cowardice as they slipped out the back. Either way, when Yoshino entered the room and saw the tense expressions from the occupants she immediately knew something was wrong. Before anyone could say a word she held up her hand and left the room, shouting over her shoulder, "Unless someone is dying we are eating dinner first!"

The Nara men and Naruto simply looked at each other before filing out of the room, following their matriarch.

All throughout dinner they ate in a relatively tense quiet. Yoshino was pointedly ignoring the strain while Naruto attempted to engage in small talk with her.

At the end of the meal Shikaku tried to broach the conversation but Yoshino cut him off once again, "We're doing dishes first!" And so the entire Nara family plus Naruto trooped into the kitchen and cleaned up.

When they finally managed to sit down the sun had set; causing the room to be washed in the warm yellow light of the incandescent bulb in the fixture overhead. They had decided to move the discussion to the dining room, Shikamaru and Naruto on one side – Shikaku and Yoshino on the other.

As they were getting ready to finally broach the conversation Yoshino watched as Naruto knelt on her chair and stretched a tiny slim hand towards the middle of the table. A complex array of black lines threaded their way from in between the girls' fingers before flashing blue once and settling into the lines of her dining table. A seal. A very intricate seal, using no brush or ink and without even using a reference, just pure chakra and memory to create it. This tiny girl was a seal master. The Nara matriarch let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, this was far more severe than she had anticipated.

And again, she watched as her son's almost equally small hand slipped under the shaking feminine one and brought it back to their side of the table. Her son shifted closer to the blonde as their intertwined hands rested in his lap. They were in it together, whatever had happened. Judging from the look on her husband's face as she glanced at him – eyes dark but not glinting, merely understanding and sorrow-filled as they glided over the pair – it was more than just the Kyuubi as she had initially thought. It was bigger, but she was at a loss as to what could possibly be bigger than that, or explain Naruto's inexplicable sealing talent.

Eventually, Shikamaru's voice cut through the silence sounding far more tired than any ten-year-old had a right to be. "This will sound unbelievable Kaa-chan but know that we are telling the truth and we never meant to mislead you or Tou-san. It was the only option left for us… For Naruto. We-" his voice cracked and Naruto took over.

"We came back in time from about ten years in the future. The whole of humanity had been decimated and I was the only one left."

"What?" She couldn't be hearing right; did they just say what she thought they said? She glanced over to Shikaku and studied him for a long moment, going over Naruto's words in her mind. Her husband didn't flinch as he met her eyes. They had already proved to him that they were indeed from the future. Yoshino had complete faith in her husband and knew that if he believed them then that was the absolute truth, she didn't need any more proof than that. However, something clicked in her mind. "But you said we. How could 'we' come back if you were the only one left?"

The girl looked down at her hands, shamefaced. "I –" "I died." Shikamaru cut in, once again finding his voice. "I died, Sakura and Sasuke died. But Naruto managed to save us enough to bring us back here and restore our memories to us."

"The last Uchiha and that pink haired civilian girl?" Shikamaru nodded at his mother's question.

"They are members of Naruto's team when we graduate from the academy. Naruto was able to save them when they died as well."

The boy kept speaking, retelling about how he had been technically dead for over five months and how Naruto had miraculously worked out the time seal to bring them here six months ago. How they had a plan to fight and grow stronger so that wouldn't happen again; putting together a plan to circumvent an entire war. It was too much. Yoshino's mind had been frozen since her baby had stated that he had died, merely absorbing and filing away the rest for future revision. No, that was enough now. Yoshino held up her hand, signaling Shikamaru to trail off in his explanation, he hadn't even gotten to the how yet.

"Kaa-chan?" The innocence still ringing in his voice, the words that were tumbling out of the same mouth that had just moments ago spoken about his own death so impassively, brought tears to her eyes. She saw that Naruto's eyes also held tears as she stood up and walked around the table. Yoshino gently coaxed them to their feet in front of her before she knelt down and gathered the both of them into her arms.

Both children stiffened for a moment, unsure of what was happening, before they melted into the embrace. Naruto hiccupped lightly as her arms wrapped around the older woman and she felt a kiss on her hair. Similarly, Shikamaru had buried his face into his mother's shoulder, dampening the cloth there before repeating his question. "Kaa-chan?" He felt her hand rub his back as she hummed before pulling away slightly.

"I don't need to know all of the details Shikamaru-chan, just that you're here now and safe. I have both of my babies in my arms and that horrible, horrible experience you had to go through will never happen again. We will do everything we can to help you okay? You won't be doing this alone. But if I _ever_ hear that you say you died again-" She gave a hard look at her son, "You will regret it. No matter how old you really are, you are still my baby."

Shikamaru nodded as he blushed and wiped the remaining moisture out of his eyes while Naruto let out a wet laugh and launched herself back into Yoshino's arms. "Thank you Kaa-chan." Shikamaru mumbled, but the boy only had eyes for the girl now wrapped once again in his mother's arms. This what family was supposed to be like; how could he have ever wanted the keep Naruto from this? What a fool he had been.

A few moments later after everyone had had the time to calm down the Nara family and Naruto had once again taken their places around the table.

"There is one more thing that you should know about." Shikamaru began tensely.

"I said I didn't need to know any details about the future, sweetie." Yoshino countered. That future would never happen and she wanted to focus on supporting her son and future daughter-in-law the best way she knew how, her husband would sort out the details.

"It's not about the future, Kaa-chan. It's about me… right now. Restoring our memories involved a bit more than just memories. Naruto had to merge our future souls with our past ones."

"Oh?" She looked curious but a little apprehensive. What could be going on right now? Her gaze settled on Naruto as the blonde began to speak.

"I had to keep Shika's soul attached to mine a little longer than ideal. As a result, it had grown dependent on me providing chakra. Then, when I gave it back, it didn't reattach properly and tried to separate." The girl took a breath as Shikamaru gave her an encouraging look. "Unfortunately, the rejection triggers a grand mal seizure. I can use my chakra to repair the soul damage and Sakura heals his physical injuries. However, using his clan jutsu with less than half chakra will trigger another seizure and we have to repeat the process. Each time this happens it seems like the seizures get worse and it takes him longer to recover. But-" She took a quick breath, hoping to placate Yoshino who had turned quite pale, "I am working on a seal to permanently prevent this from happening. It's a bit slow going but I'll figure it out no matter what. I promise!"

Now it was Yoshino's turn to tightly grip her husband's hand, their baby was having seizures? But Shikaku spoke up before she could have more of a reaction.

"I'm going to give you full access to the Nara clan archives and research library. If there's anything in there at all that could help please find it and use it. The full details on how our clan jutsu's work is also contained within the archives, use it wisely. I also trust that the information won't go farther than you." His serious gaze settled on the two time travelers across his table while his wife squeezed his hand tighter.

Shikamaru swallowed dryly, "All of it? There are parts of the archives I wasn't able to access until I became clan head." Naruto whipped her head to look at the younger Nara at his exclamation, she was going to be let in on clan secrets? That was completely unheard of!

"Yes, all of it. You'll get access with her, just make sure you're not seen while looking at the more hidden material, that would be troublesome and hard to explain. Besides-" Shikaku closed one eye at his son and inclined his head while setting his jaw on his hand, "I'm sure she would have access eventually anyway."

Shikamaru turned slightly red at the insinuation while his mother finally grinned again at her son's embarrassment. "Tou-saaaan…" he whined. The meaning behind his words went right over Naruto's head fortunately, her large eyes looking around curiously knowing that she missed something.

"How long have you two been together anyway? Were you guys-?" Yoshino continued, trying to get more details about her son's love life – as any mother would if they found out their child came back from the future with a significant other she was sure.

Shikamaru shook his head before his mother could complete her question, red continuing to stain his cheeks, "No, and about three years all things considered." Again, Naruto didn't seem to hear or understand the implication as she just gave a wide grin to all three Nara's, this whole conversation had gone much better than expected with both Yoshino and Shikaku! The youngest Nara however had had enough of his parents' embarrassment for one night and hauled his love to her feet.

"We're going to head to bed now if there are no other pressing questions?" he continued as both of his parents shook their heads, "Okay. Tou-san you're coming with us in the morning right?" Another nod and a grunt. "Alright then, be ready for eight. Good night."

Naruto simply stood and deactivated the seals on the table, he -she- was quite ready for sleep as well. "Good night! Yoshino-san! Shikaku-san!"

The adults bid them goodnight and pointedly decided not to say anything when they heard both pairs of feet enter Shikamaru's room and stay there.

Yoshino looked over at Shikaku, still amused at their son's reaction, "Shall we go as well?" He merely hummed and stood up, pulling his wife up the stairs.

Half an hour later Yoshino was standing before their bed about to climb in when she felt Shikaku's firm bare arms wrapped around her. His now down dark hair brushed her shoulder as he spoke into her ear, "What's wrong, love?"

It hadn't been too long but one thing in particular had settled into her mind, "Our baby's not our baby anymore Shi-chan. I thought we'd have two more years until he made genin at least."

He spun her around in his arms and kissed her forehead. "I know, love. It's going to be hard." There wasn't really much he could do. Today felt like a bomb had been dropped on both of them and he felt emotionally and mentally drained. But the least he could do was distract his wife, this had been even more unexpected for her after all.

And that is exactly what he did as he kissed his way down her face and lowered her onto the bed.

Days in pigtails: 78

Naruto catching missions: 7

Jonin's promoted: 2

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, there you have it! Long, emotional. Was a bitch for me to write but I hope I did it justice. Next chapter we will see a bit more of the consequences of the Nara's finding out and we will hopefully cover some more ground!

Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 8: Kainotophobia

**A/N:** Hi everyone! Thanks for all of the lovely reviews for the last chapter, I really appreciate hearing everyone's thoughts and suggestions.

I had a request for fluff in a flashback so I have made an attempt. Hope everyone likes it!

* * *

Soul Matrix

Chapter 8

Kainotophobia

* * *

 _5 Months Prior to Kaguya's Return:_

Shikamaru groans and finally collapses onto the bed, Naruto still pinned under him. They're both sweaty and sticky and all they can think about for the moment is catching their breath. The Nara isn't quite sure how it happened, one moment they were laughing – Naruto making fun of his hair and how it looked like a pineapple, him chasing the blond around his apartment playfully irritated – and the next they had fallen together on Naruto's bed. Lips hot, tasting each other's as clothes steadily dripped off the bed until there was nothing between them but sweat and skin. Hands had roamed everywhere, seeking out places and caressing that which had never been touched. Being inside Naruto had been… completely indescribable; it made their previous fumbling's pale in comparison.

Shikamaru found he could finally breathe and turned his head to place butterfly kisses from the hollow behind Naruto's ear and along his jaw as he rolled off his lover and to the side. He finished with a chaste kiss to the corner of his blond's open mouth, half lidded eyes taking in the slack muscles of his whiskered face; blue orbs still unfocused as his chest slowly settled.

"Nikko-chan?"

Those unfocused eyes trailed themselves over to his own as a smile twisted on his loves face. Naruto curled himself into Shikamaru's side, headless of the mess between them and nestled his face into the juncture of the Nara's neck and shoulder. Letting out a breath he didn't realize his was holding Shikamaru eased down onto his back, pulling Naruto close to his side and burying a hand into his recently cropped golden strands. Naruto's lack of response had worried him for a moment.

"Th-that felt amazing, Shika."

He let out a contented sigh and pressed a kiss to the blond's forehead, "Yeah, it did."

They basked in the afterglow for another moment before a tan arm reached up and pulled out the band holding Shikamaru's hair up, letting the dark nut brown hair fall over his face and pillow. Strong fingers ran through his hair before reaching father behind him to drag a blanket back over the pair, cutting off the nip in the air from their naked bodies. Cleaning up could wait.

The morning dawned bright, casting a ray of sunlight over the pair. Shikamaru lazily blinked awake, sleepy eyes roving over the still sleeping blond beside him. He noted the dust motes floating in the air between them as the light paid homage to his lover's hair.

Naruto looked stunning even in his sleep. Gently, the Nara ran a hand over the jinchuuriki's back tracing nonsense patterns and simply enjoying the feel of the warm skin beneath his hand.

' _I really love him.'_ He hadn't been able to say it yet but it was true. The past five months had been amazing. He felt completed in a way he never had before. He kissed Naruto's forehead as his fingers unconsciously mirrored his thoughts, tracing his love confession over the tanned skin.

Last night had been the first time they had slept together; previous encounters had mainly been unexperienced occurrences of hands and mouths coloured by mild embarrassment and shy satisfaction. All of that had been absent last night, it was just them; need overflowing between them as a sense of rightness settled in the air.

An azure eye cracked open as a smile traced across Naruto's lips, "I love you too, Shika." Shikamaru froze as the blonde rolled from his front onto his side, catching the brunet's fingers during his movement. As his lover kissed his fingers he realized that they had betrayed him, but he couldn't help the smile that spread across his own features.

He leaned in and ghosted his lips over the blond's, "Yeah, love you, Nikko-chan," he murmured before sealing them together.

* * *

 _Present Day, 6 Months in New Timeline:_

The next morning found Shikamaru in the kitchen with his mother. Naruto had run home to get changed and pick up her weapons and notebooks while Shikaku was currently in the shower. He, himself was making lunch to bring to the training ground (enough for both him and Naruto as well as his father). Yoshino was currently making a pot of tea for herself when Shikamaru began speaking.

"Thank you Kaa-chan." Yoshino tried to get a good look at her sons face but he was intently focused on the rice simmering in front of him.

"For what exactly?"

"For being so accepting of all this. Naruto especially…" The boy paused, seemingly trying to find the right words. "H-She never had the chance to get to know you, before. So this really means a lot to her."

Yoshino had figured as much; poor girl was so alone. "Well she has us now, sweetie." She smiled indulgently, she was slightly curious about why she hadn't met her though. From the rough timeline she had gotten before stopping them yesterday there was almost a year before everything went to hell while they were dating. "Why didn't I meet her? She's obviously going to be gorgeous when she gets older. I would have thought you'd love to show her off."

Shikamaru's grip tightened on the spoon as Shikaku joined them in the kitchen, evidently hearing the last bit of the conversation. He and Naruto had discussed last night before going to sleep if they would tell his parents about the gender change. Naruto was adamant not to lie if it ever came up, she cared about his parents too much to keep it from them and thought that they should know sooner rather than later. They had agreed that Shikamaru could tell them if the opportunity ever presented itself (Naruto was secretly a bit relieved she might miss that conversation as she was still quite uncomfortable about it), he just didn't think it would come up so soon. He wanted to be supportive, that didn't mean he wasn't nervous though.

"Yeah, Naruto was gorgeous alright. Just not how you are thinking Kaa-chan." He finally looked up at her. "There was another side effect of the…" He paused, not wanting to say anything that someone could overhear, "That wasn't quite relevant last night…"

He turned off the burner to allow the rice to cool and motioned for his parents to follow him to the living room. In their haste last night, they had forgotten to erase the seal from the coffee table and the younger Nara simply re-activated it. They might need to place a permanent one around the house now.

He started again a bit more confidently. "When creating the seal, Naruto initially wanted to go back fifteen years however the chakra demand from carrying our souls would have killed him instantly. A failsafe of sorts was built in to check the timeline and deposit us at the first safe point. The working theory is that the seal checking the timeline caused a change at the moment of Naruto's conception causing her to now be the opposite sex of our original timeline."

Shikaku hummed, "The observer effect…"

Shikamaru nodded as Yoshino spoke up, "You mean Naruto-chan was a…?"

"A boy. Yeah." His dark eyes surveyed his parents for their reactions, his father was stone faced while his mother's hand had gone to her mouth.

"Oh that poor dear! I would never have guessed." Yoshino's eyes widened, "How is he? She?-"

"She. We can't change her back because in this time she has always been a she. There is nothing to turn her back to. Besides-" Shikamaru continued, trying to reassure his mother. "Naruto is Naruto no matter what she looks like."

"And you love her." Shikaku finished, observant as ever.

The youngest Nara's cheeks took on a dusty rose colour, "Of course I do. More than anything." His voice was soft as he looked at the floor, memories came to his mind unbidden; reminding him exactly of that fact. As lost in the moment as he was, his father's next comment shocked him.

"You were going to step down as clan head weren't you?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened and for a moment the world tilted slightly and his breath caught in his chest. _'No! No more being afraid or worried about their disapproval. I kept Naruto away from my mother for long enough because of it. This ends now.'_ Gradually he got his breathing under control and grit his teeth before replying."Yes."

He stared directly into his father's eyes, challenging him to contest his decision. Under their clan rules, the clan head was required to marry a spouse such that a full blooded heir would be borne to the union. This was put in place to ensure a clear line of heredity for the clan jutsu (only those of Nara blood from either their mother's or father's side could command the shadows) and to prevent custody disputes that could arise from surrogacy. Furthermore, if the head of the clan were to be female, their male spouse was required to adopt the Nara name to ensure this lineage. Traditionally, if the heir was unable to meet these requirements, they were required to step down and pass the title on to the next of kin (usually a younger sibling or cousin). However, in this case both Shikamaru and Shikaku were only children which would cause some chaos in deciding who would be next clan head.

Shikaku saw the steel creep up his son's spine and let a satisfied smile cross his face, "Good." He didn't wait to see the look of astonishment on his son's face as he returned to the kitchen, intent on fixing lunch.

Yoshino however engulfed Shikamaru in a tight hug. "That must have been a hard decision, sweetie, but sometimes you have to do what will make you happy despite the consequences. But, now at least, you don't have to make that decision. That's one silver lining in all of this anyway." Yoshino hummed again for a second, "That, and now I get grand-babies."

Shikamaru's face turned bright red as he shoved his way out of her hold, "MOTHER!"

* * *

Shikamaru's face was still mildly pink when he and his father arrived at the Uchiha training ground. Naruto was waiting for them and waved eagerly as they approached, her smile causing his mother's words to float through his head again _'Grand-babies'_ and his blush to darken. Naruto, oblivious as always, wrapped him in a hug by way of greeting before addressing his smirking father beside him.

"I'll need some blood to adjust the wards to allow you entrance."

Shikaku let out a low whistle after the procedure for updating the wards were complete. That was some of the most impressive seal work he had ever seen. "How often do you need to recharge the entire array?"

Naruto blinked and smiled, he -she- didn't realise that Shikaku would know that much about warding seals. "Their longevity is based on the amount of chakra pumped into the chakra containment matrix. Right now I can charge them for about two weeks at a time. When my stores grow completely I should be able to charge them for a couple years or more."

Shikaku regarded Sasuke and Sakura with a nod as they entered the clearing, "How much chakra did you have?"

Shikamaru gave a snort, "Well she had access to Kurama's chakra and mastered senjutsu, not to mention the whole Sage of Six Paths thing. It was far beyond Kage level."

"It was a fuck ton and a half." Sasuke drily added as he stood up when they approached.

"Oh shut it, Teme!" Naruto stuck out her tongue while the raven smirked and lent a hand to help Sakura up.

Shikaku simply shook his head in disbelief. The potential heights these kids could and would reach was insane.

Before they began talking strategy and answering Shikaku's questions they each made a shadow clone. It was important that they maintain a normal façade for the village and four ten-year-old's being repeatedly absent at the same time was bound to draw unwanted attention.

Naruto sighed, once again her clone had manifested as male. She poked it irritatedly as it scowled at her, "It's not my fault, boss!" it snapped out before henge-ing into the perfect replica it was supposed to be and ran it out of the clearing. She froze as she suddenly remembered who was also in the clearing, however, a large hand reached out and ruffled her hair.

"Don't worry about it Naruto-chan. You'll get it eventually." She looked at Shikaku wide eyed as he gave her a soft smile of understanding. Shikamaru must have told them after she had left this morning. She returned his smile with an even larger one. "Of course, dattebayo!"

A while later they had hashed out their current plan with Shikaku and filled him in on various details that they had forgotten the previous day.

"Just to be a hundred percent clear, the reason we aren't filling in Sandaime-sama is…?"

"Danzo Shimura." Sasuke's voice had a bitter bite to it as he interrupted Shikaku. "There is no way to get Sandaime alone long enough to fill him in without alerting him. He has had his fingers into every unfortunate inter- and intra- village relation since he was passed over for Hokage. We need to get rid of him before we can set up our base of power using the Hokage's seat."

The elder Nara's arms were folded, to think that one of the village elders would sink to this level was reprehensible. But, he had to admit, the plan they had laid out to him was pretty solid so far but the level of espionage required was a bit concerning. It was some heavy infiltration of the sort he hadn't seen since the third shinobi war.

"How much reconnaissance and espionage training have you guys completed?"

The three members of team seven shook their heads while Sakura spoke up. "Not much I'm afraid. Although Naruto did train under Jiraiya-sama for two years…" She paused to see if Naruto wanted to add anything but the girl just shrugged, "Team seven was developed into a front line assault force so we only covered basics – codes and such for communication. We've never exactly needed to be subtle before."

Shikamaru snorted, when your least powerful team member could feasibly accidently destroy a small mountain if they sneezed at the wrong time, 'not needing to be subtle' was an understatement. "My team was the standard 'Ino-Shika-Cho' formation but I was focused more about detection than actually performing, not that I couldn't put it together. Ino was the infiltration specialist though."

Shikaku nodded, that was pretty much what he had figured. "Alright, from now on I'll coach you four in everything I know about espionage, infiltration, subterfuge, and reconnaissance. But first, Naruto-chan-" The blonde perked up at the sound of her name, "You're going to need to teach us your modified henge that your clone used earlier."

She blinked, his -her- henge? Wasn't it the same they were taught in the academy? The jinchuuriki explained as much to Shikaku who quirked an eyebrow. "No, it's quite different. It's a solid henge but I couldn't tell that it had been cast after the initial chakra use. It also took quite a bit more chakra than a regular henge, almost six times as much." He frowned as no comprehension crossed the girls face, "Where did you learn it?"

Sakura piped up as Naruto stayed silent, "Don't you use the same henge for your perverted blight on shinobi?"

Naruto was still confused, "Yeah Sakura-chan it is. I uh… I really thought it was the henge that we learnt at the academy. When I was learning it the first time around I kept having to put more and more chakra in it before I finally got it to work. Shikaku-san, you're saying that these hand signs-" She slowly performed dog, boar, and finally rat. "Aren't the right ones?"

She received three head shakes. "You're supposed to end on ram, Dobe. Not rat." Sasuke snorted, trust Naruto to get a jutsu wrong but still have it work.

"The rat hand sign is commonly associated with the shadow techniques including our clan's own jutsu. It kind of makes sense now, you picked up the shadow clone technique abnormally fast too, Nikko-chan." Shikamaru remarked.

' _Incredible. The light shining with such intensity that she can manipulate the darkness. No wonder Shikamaru is so smitten.'_ Shikaku thought, taking in the look on his son's face as the four children continued to discuss the differences in the two jutsu.

"Well let's get started, I have to meet Chouza and Inoichi later." The elder Nara interrupted, time to see just what these kids could do.

* * *

 _Present Day, 7 Months in New Timeline:_

"Dinner's ready, Dobe." Sasuke called from the kitchen doorway, his hair was pinned back for cooking as he had let it grow since returning here and it was finally getting in the way.

Naruto sighed and put down the scroll he -she- had been perusing to stretch her arms above her head, several pops emanating from her spine. This was becoming a habit more often than not lately. With Sakura and Sasuke having to keep their relationship hidden and Naruto needing to stay away from the Nara compound enough to prevent suspicion; the two orphans found themselves spending most of the lonely evenings together. They would alternate apartments and whoever's apartment it was had to cook, it was a pretty good system so far.

Naruto flashed the Uchiha a wide smile as she entered the kitchen and sat down for the meal. "This smells awesome, Teme!"

Sasuke grunted, "Just eat it." But he took a second to observe his blonde companion, "And I think you should take a break from researching Nara's condition. You're obviously exhausted and your eyes are red."

But the girl merely snorted and shoveled some of the food into her mouth, "Like you're one to talk."

The raven had been running himself completely ragged since they got here, trying to accumulate chakra reserves as fast as humanly possible. Well they all had, but the pure zealotry present in Sasuke's efforts had been a sight to behold. He could finally make a shadow clone on his own and was working towards a second. The division of chakra into more than one vessel and even limiting chakra between clones or giving them an uneven amount of chakra at the same time was extremely difficult. So far none of them were quite sure how Naruto was able to accomplish it with such ease. In any case the chakra flooding was having less of an impact on him and they would soon have to revisit how much chakra Naruto pumped into his system.

"I'm taking tonight off aren't I?" Sasuke shot back after swallowing.

"Off of training, but I know that book back there is a new clan history one that you haven't read yet." Naruto shot right back.

"It's Madara's daughter's journal." The raven admitted. "I'm trying to figure out if he had any weaknesses."

The blonde perked up, "Let me know how that goes."

"Hn."

A few hours later found the pair in Sasuke's living room. It had turned out that Madara's daughter was something of a philosopher and had worked closely with the Senju clan during the creation of Konoha. It seemed that kunoichi were rarer back then and the girl had been brought up more as a lady than Sasuke could ever fathom outside of the daimyo's court. But the girl (Midori) had had beautiful calligraphy that was both graceful and spoke of a certain power, as a result Madara had negotiated that she be the one to pen some of Konoha's founding documents still in use today. Truly, the woman had been fascinating but as the volume continued it became clear that she had known nothing about her father and his obsession with Hashirama.

The Uchiha found his focus waning and his thoughts drifted, as they usually did, towards his past. But as the current date approached he found a new sort of resentment build within his chest. He had hoped both the book and Naruto's company would keep it at bay but… Naruto, focus. That was why they were here. The raven shifted a pressed his fingers to his brow with a very real left hand in an attempt to stave off a headache.

"Hey, Naruto…"

"Yeah, Sasuke?" The girl looked up from her scroll, surprised by the serious and introspective tone in his voice.

Sasuke's eyes were still focused on the book in front of him but he wasn't reading, half of his face was shadowed from his bangs. "I didn't get a chance to say this yet but… Thank you."

The boy licked his lips and continued before the blonde could respond. "Thank you for everything. For figuring out the seal, for bringing Sakura and I along with you. And for undoing the enormous amount of wrong I have done."

"Sas-" "Let me finish!"

His dark eyes finally lifted from the page in front of him to look Naruto in the eyes. "For giving me a home I can belong to again. Just… Thank you."

She didn't say anything. What could she say? Instead, Naruto gave Sasuke a serious nod. The Uchiha must have been stewing on this for quite a while.

A few moments later Naruto flashed Sasuke a wide smile. "We should set up your mattress out here."

"What?" The complete change of topic and mood threw him for a moment.

"Well I always heard about kids having sleepovers when we were really this age." Naruto explained sheepishly, "I feel like we missed out."

Sasuke rolled his eye but stood up with an indulgent sigh, former mood and melancholy forgotten with a small smile on his lips. "Just this once, Imouto."

The blonde let out a small cheer before she ripped the cushions off the couch while the raven went to get his spare futon, really- there was no need to dismantle his bed.

A couple hours later both children were laying on the futon, sheet draped over the back of the couch and pinned by several books on top of the television. They had watched an old movie that Sasuke couldn't remember buying and Naruto had fallen asleep shortly before it ending. The raven stared over at the sleeping blonde before looking back at the sheet ceiling they had erected. This had been… nice. A warm feeling had finally eased the bitterness that had been growing all day.

A small knock and the turning of a key in the door broke him from his thoughts. Sasuke turned over and propped himself up onto his elbows as Sakura entered his apartment. A pink eyebrow rose at the sight of the both of them but Sasuke just shrugged and moved over slightly, lifting the blanket and inviting her to squeeze in between him and Naruto.

Quietly, the girl set down the bag she had been carrying and joined her teammates in their makeshift fort. "I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about…" The raven nodded as his wife settled down on her back looking at the sheet as he had before she had arrived. "Hn… Naruto managed to distract me for the most part."

A bittersweet smile crept across her face, "Yeah, she does that. I'm glad she can still do that."

"Hn."

The sweetness drained slightly from her face as she looked over to him, her hand drifting across her middle. Sasuke's own joined it there, their fingers intertwining.

Sakura's next words came out just above a whisper, "It would have been her birthday."

He just gripped her hand tighter, "I know, Tsuma. I know." Sasuke tugged her closer against him.

A moment later a loud snore echoed through the apartment as Naruto's leg flew over the pair, her hair was askew and a line of drool peaked out form the corner of her mouth. Sakura let out a short giggle, breaking the tension and closing her eyes with a smile. "Ha. Even in her sleep she knows just what to say."

Sasuke smiled as he buried his face into his wife's pink strands, letting his tiredness washed over him again. "Hn, Dobe'll never change."

Days in pigtails: 89

Naruto catching missions: 8

Jonin's promoted: 3

* * *

 _Present Day, 9 Months in New Timeline:_

Shikamaru's face held an ashy pallor when he joined his time travelling companions that Wednesday morning. He had examined their involvement in the current timeline with a fine-toothed comb, more than once. He had mentally gone through dozens if not hundreds of scenarios in his mind, checking for potential repercussions and unintended consequences. He had insisted on their air tight security, the seals, the clones, every interaction outside of their safe zones was carefully regulated and controlled in order to manipulate how every member of the village saw them. They were to make no noticeable changes to their behaviour inside the village until they made genin.

But he had made a mistake.

Just like every other barrier and road block they had encountered since returning to this time, he had been at fault. And now…

"Are you all right, Nara?"

Shikamaru broke out of his train of thought as Sasuke's question entered his ears. His eyes snapped up from where they had been focused on the ground. The raven's exclamation had also interrupted Naruto and Sakura from where they seemed to have been in deep discussion over a scroll before he had arrived.

"Um, yeah. But…" The Nara sighed and sat down next to the girls, quizzical looks on both of their faces. Sasuke collected his projectiles and joined them before the Nara spoke.

"My mother is pregnant."

The air rushed out of him as he delivered his news, the three faces around him varied from excited (Naruto) to worried concern (Sasuke), Sakura hovered somewhere in the middle.

"Congrats, Shika!" Naruto engulfed him in a hug, not fully understanding why he seemed so tense, but babies were good right?

"How far along?" Sasuke always asked the important questions.

"About three months, so it would have happened-"

"Right before we told them." Sakura finished his statement, "It's okay Shikamaru, you couldn't have seen this coming."

"What's wrong? Isn't this good news?" The blonde was now fully confused but grabbed Shikamaru's hand in support anyway.

"It means, Dobe-" Shikamaru sent a grateful look towards Sasuke for explaining. "That something has changed despite our efforts to keep everything the same."

Blue eyes rolled in their sockets, "Well, yeah. But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. We've only had real contact with your parents in a way that was different from our original timeline. It's an isolated event but it's also proof."

"Proof?"

Naruto's smile stretched across her whiskered face, "That us being here can actually change things! And such a positive change!" She grabbed his -her- lover's shoulders and shook him. "Shika! You're getting little brother or sister! It's exciting!"

It may have just been a fortuitous shift in the wind but as the clouds broke and the summer sun hit the golden strands Shikamaru was struck again with just how lucky he was. Naruto's boundless optimism could always put the right things into focus. Sasuke and Sakura's faces also reflected their increased spirits as their hands found each other's.

"You're right, Nikko-chan." A small smile spread across his own face as he grabbed her hand. "It just means we have one more person to protect."

"Yup! One more reason not to fail!" Naruto grinned back.

"And we won't fail." Sasuke gripped Sakura's hand tighter as she spoke. "Would you like me to give her a checkup, Shikamaru? I know the doctors at the hospital are competent but-"

"You're better." The Nara smirked as Naruto settled closer against him. Surprisingly she didn't get cuddly like this often, especially in front of anyone, so he was soaking it up.

Meanwhile Sakura blushed but didn't deny it.

"Sure Sakura, I'm sure my mother will appreciate it too."

A moment later everyone simultaneously realized that it was a school day and rushed to send off their clones, there were only twenty minutes before it started and would take almost ten minutes to get there at a normal pace. Time to get down to work.

Later that afternoon Kurama interrupted Naruto in their training. The girl had a few dozen clones training in various fields (some were doing taijutsu, reading scrolls, elemental chakra control etcetera) while each of her other time travelling companions had their own shadow that they were working with.

' **Kit. I found it.'** Kurama's low growl echoed in her mind as she stopped scribbling in the notebook in front of her.

He -she- had been waiting for this. She gestured to the clone closest to her (currently reading back and forth between an Uchiha scroll and a Nara text) to continue as she assumed her meditative pose.

A moment later the blonde opened his eyes in the dimly lit forest that was now his -her- mindscape.

"Kurama?"

" **Over here."**

Naruto followed the deep voice of his -her- inner demon further though the trees. The trunks began to get larger with vines running from tree to tree and over roots through bushes. The darkness also seemed to press in around him -her- as the jinchuuriki made his -her- way closer to the great fox. Just as he thought that he -she- must have taken a wrong turn a stray root hooked her foot and he -she- fell directly through a bush and into a small hidden clearing on the other side.

"Oompf!" The mostly male form landed in a heap at the fox's paws.

" **So glad you could deign to show up."** Kurama's reply was dripping with sarcasm, the great beast was in a smaller form than how he usually presented himself – only about the size of a large horse. The size was presumably due to the density of the forest, even at this close-range Naruto could barely make out the tips of Kurama's tails in the dim light.

"Yeah right, ya fur ball!" The blonde groaned as he got to his -her- feet, "Took me ages to find this place, I didn't even know it got that thick in here."

A blood red eye roved over the small form before turning to the far side of the clearing, **"Neither did I. Now come, look."** Kurama extended a claw to a point in the murky darkness.

Naruto took hesitant steps forward and surveyed the enormous gnarled tree that emerged from the gloom. Kurama exhaled a fiery chakra infused breath, causing red embers to float through the air up and around the great tree like fireflies, illuminating the vast branches for his host. The blonde inclined his -her- head towards the beast in thanks and continued towards the vast trunk.

In the increased light, it was just possible to make out the branches above. The crooked limbs were bare and spread out in every direction, meshing with the branches of the surrounding trees. With how high they seemed to go it was possible that the branches from this tree interwove through the rest of the forest – an organic prison.

Naruto's head snapped back to the trunk after marveling at the branches, the behemoth was nearly twenty feet across with roots spreading out around the clearing, knots as big as benches. And there, settled in the heart of the tree was the seal; embedded in a gash wider than the shrunken jinchuuriki was tall. The blonde approached and ran a small hand over the edges of the gash, feeling the rough texture and the rounded quality of the wood where the tree had attempted to grow around seal.

"It's really here." Naruto's words came out in a whisper as he -she- felt Kurama's hot breath at her back. He -she- hastily reached out her spare hand and gave the beast a pat on the snout. "I'll be able to release it soon. Either by force or recreating the key. I promise Kurama."

The Kyuubi nuzzled the side of the blonde head, **"I know, kit."** He aimed his maw upwards and let out another stream of ember fireflies. **"You may ev-"**

Kurama cut off his sentence with a sharp snarl causing Naruto to look up at him startled. Before he could ask what's wrong the fox was pulling him away from the tree.

" **Out, Naruto! You must go!"**

Between blinks Naruto found herself back in the sunshine, _'What happened?'_

' **Feel, Naruto!'**

She wasted no time extending her senses, using her full range of emotion sensing powers. And there, just at the edge of her range but rapidly approaching, she felt it. With a gasp the girl sprang to her feet and yelled while simultaneously dispelling all but four clones. The clones ran to each anchor seals and began rapidly draining the array of chakra.

Three sets of eyes looked towards her in mild panic but the terror on the girl's face did nothing to appease them. The next word Naruto spoke made them understand.

" _Zetsu."_

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, shit is going down. I dropped a couple bombs in this chapter. I had three separate scenes I could have ended with but chose this one ;P How is everyone feeling?

As always, let me know what you think and if there is anything you would like to see in the flashbacks!

Thanks for reading and please review!


	10. Chapter 9: Saudade

**A/N:** Hi everyone! I noticed that quite a few of you were a wee bit upset at last chapter's cliffhanger. Good. *evil smirk* You may or may not be happier with me for this chapter, apologies in advance.

***Please read*** Warning for this chapter: A discussion of miscarriage occurs in this chapter. If this affects you, please proceed with caution when Sakura henges into her adult self until the last four paragraphs of the chapter, it's not overly long.

I don't often give warnings but I understand how delicate a subject it is.

* * *

Soul Matrix

Chapter 9

Saudade

* * *

 _1 Week Since Kaguya's Return:_

Sasuke stalked back and forth angrily. His wife was practically non-responsive with grief, their Hokage was dead, two-thirds of the village had gone up in flames with a quarter of the populace, and they had _no fucking idea_ how Kaguya managed to escape her seal.

"We fucking sealed her!" Sasuke's chest heaved, breaths increasing in pace while he tugged frantically at his collar.

"We did." Naruto replied tensely from where he hovered over Shikamaru who's dislocated shoulder and second degree burns were being looked at by a medic.

"But she still fucking got out!" He couldn't breathe, why couldn't he breathe?! Sasuke whipped off his slightly singed jonin vest and threw it at the floor.

"I know, Sasuke."

Sasuke spun around and pinned Naruto with a furious glare, "But _how_?" he hissed, sharingan spinning wildly.

"I. Don't. KNOW." Naruto's final word came out as a growl causing Shikamaru's good hand to grab onto his pants, stopping the blonde from moving. The Nara winced as the movement jostled his injured arm.

"Calm down, Uchiha. Getting worked up won't help anyone right now and we have no idea when she'll be back." Pain crossed Shikamaru's face as the medic removed the last piece of fabric from his burn. "At least we're alive to figure it out."

Naruto gripped his uninjured shoulder painfully. He looked up to see Naruto's face devoid of colour, an ashy hue making him look ill. He proceeded lowly, "Are Sakura and-?" But the blonde shook his head and whispered, "Just Sakura."

At Shikamaru's words, Sasuke felt the room start spinning and darkness crept into the edges of his vision. His pulse raced in his ears as he was forced to take a knee. Breaths becoming shallower and quicker every second. Mind spinning in circles. Then, nothing.

Naruto broke away from Shikamaru as Sasuke tilted towards the floor. The blonde caught him and settled him more gently on the ground. "Shit."

The next few moments were tense as they waited for the medic to leave, assuring her that they knew what was wrong and could take care of Sasuke. They were alone.

"Shika… I think I fucked up."

Shikamaru gazed at the bowed head of his lover. He winced as he stood to join Naruto, coming to a stop at his side and running his good hand through blonde hair. "How."

The Uzumaki pressed his face into Shikamaru's thigh, "When we sealed Kaguya, I tossed Zetsu into the Chibaku Tensei with her however, we didn't place the seal on him specifically. I had pinned Zetsu so he couldn't move and embedded him in the seal… I thought it was good enough."

Shikamaru continued to run his hands through blonde hair as his mind whirled and moisture bloomed on his pants, "It's okay, Naruto. We'll figure something out."

* * *

 _Present Day, 6 Months in New Timeline:_

Naruto's wild eyes darted between the three frozen forms in front of her. They weren't moving. Why weren't they moving?!

She dove to the ground and gathered up the materials at her feet, she couldn't afford to leave these behind. Her frantic movements seemed to jolt the others into movement. As they all scrambled to remove any of their traces from the area, Naruto began to shout some more information.

"He's approaching rapidly form the northwest, arrival time is approximately thirty minutes." The four huffed together in a loose circle, adrenaline from the unexpected approach pumping through their veins. The blond looked at each one in turn, conveying the absolute seriousness of her next words, "Disengage all of my special privacy seals, and do absolutely nothing you wouldn't have done the first time. No sneaking around, no reading anything suspicious, no talking to each other in a more familiar way." She took a deep breath, "We're very lucky that the academy is already out for the day. I'll monitor where he is and his target. I'll contact you when I can. Now, scatter!"

Each of them responded instantly, they hadn't heard Naruto sound so commanding since he took over from Kakashi when he died. It sent a thrill through their veins and settled steel in their bones.

They scattered.

o-

The first week was tense, having to act completely as they had before. The lack of contact was felt most keenly. They had grown used to playing a part during the day but at home, on their own time or during training, they had had each other. Right now, they were alone.

Finally, six days after Zetsu had arrived in Konoha; Naruto was able to slip a message into Shikamaru's hand.

"Man, Shikamaru. With a look like that on your face you'd think you'd have to take a dump or something!"

It was break time and the boys around them (particularly Kiba) started hooting in laughter at the blonde's comment as she ran out of the room. Shikamaru's face settled into a frown and had to bite back a look of surprise as he felt paper sliding into his hand as she had passed.

"Hah, funny, Naruto."

This wasn't the first time Naruto had acted crass in the past week but it was the first time that Shikamaru was directly mentioned.

' _She wants me to open this in the bathroom? Must have an opening right now… troublesome.'_ His parents had been quite confused over the past week as he'd had to warn them off of saying anything related to their predicament, he had promised to tell them when he could.

Nonchalantly, the Nara made his way into the academy bathroom and locked himself in a stall. It was as good of a place as any to read a secret note – no windows and no way to see in unless Zetsu directly shoved his head through a wall.

Carefully he unfolded the message, a scant few sentences greeted him along with a seal paper.

 **White only.**

 **Curious but bored.**

 **Watching me, Sasuke sometimes.**

 **Use seal, won't detect.**

 **Love you.**

Shikamaru's eyes watered slightly and he rose a hand to remove the moisture before slamming a fist into the wall of the stall. _'Dammit!'_ His fist stung as he had added to the dents. He bit his fist slightly to stop himself from making any noise before reaching into his pocket and fishing out a lighter he had filched from his father. He tucked the privacy seal deep into his pocket (Konoha standard issue, slightly modified. No one would be suspicious if Shikaku used one) and flicked the lighter. He allowed the message to burn completely and flushed the evidence before leaving the stall to wash his hands.

By the time his hands were dry, Shikamaru was deep in thought analyzing every word that Naruto had given him. It was obvious she had to write it in a hurry and from the way it was slightly wrinkled, the blonde had been looking for an opening to give the message to him for at least a couple days.

' _White only,'_ that meant it was only the white Zetsu present gathering information and Shikamaru could hardly contain a sigh of relief, the black one was far more dangerous. _'Curious but bored,'_ from that it was likely that the creature wasn't there because of anything they had done or there would be no trace of boredom; likely a routine survey that that hadn't been aware of the first time around. And he was exclusively watching Naruto and Sasuke, that also fit into the picture of routine. Him and Sakura weren't suspected, _'Yet anyway,'_ and as long as they could wait out however long Zetsu would be here for they would be able to pass under the radar.

Shikamaru thought hard on the last line, committing the curves and edges of those two words to memory as he let out a sigh, damn he needed a cigarette.

' _Love you too, Nikko-chan.'_

o-

The second week of isolation was worse than the first. She had been able to give Sasuke a heads up but only just, the weight of Zetsu's unwanted presence made even thinking difficult. Fortunately, the plant bastard had consistently kept his distance and made no attempt to go through her belongings, verifying further that this was routine. Not that that helped when he -she- could feel his eyes when changing and constantly monitoring his movements was exhausting.

Naruto stared into her empty cupboards, noting the last cup ramen tipped over pathetically in the back. She was out of food. The blonde had managed to convince Iruka to treat her Ichiraku a couple times and had gone there herself a few more but she really needed to buy some now. It was something he -she- had avoided like the plague since they had returned, always using a henge to enter shops and only changing back after she had gotten all that she needed. People would see her walking around with the bags but no one would pay attention enough to notice if she was actually in any store. But, with Zetsu watching her every move twenty-four hours a day, he would notice and be suspicious.

She had been too stupid to try using a henge at this age and she wanted to keep that perception. With a sigh Naruto slipped on her shoes and grabbed her wallet. She had a market to get abused in.

It was every bit as foul as she remembered; the averted gazes, or worse the disgusted looks and whispered words. The occasional mutter of 'Demon brat' assaulted her ears as she wandered the marketplace, a red flush creeping up her neck. Shame. Anger. She was thrown out of a few stores and shooed away from more stalls than she cared to count before she was able to procure enough food for the week. There had been a reason why the blonde had mostly subsisted off instant ramen, that particular convenience store grudgingly put up with her presence.

Naruto looked down at her slightly pitiful looking bag of meat and vegetables; it would have to do.

o-

The third week was testing all of their patience. Tempers were running high and Naruto had found herself in fist fights almost every day this week both with Sasuke and Kiba as well another asshole kid in their class that had pissed her off. Fortunately, bouts of anger were common in her childhood so she made no effort to curb her ire.

On top of everything at the academy and her own irritation, Naruto mainly felt lonely. Lonely in a way that he -she- hadn't since she was really in the academy. After making genin there had always been Team Seven, then Ero-sennin while they were travelling, then they were so busy fighting the war and the Akatsuki that there hadn't been any time to feel the loneliness. After the war, there had been a few times when the feeling had crept back but between his reunited team and the villages new hero worship he had barely acknowledged the loneliness. Then Shikamaru had come into his life and everything had been wonderful. Even after Kaguya's return he hadn't felt lonely – angry, sad, terrified, frustrated, desperate – but not lonely.

Her chest felt hollow as she walked down the dusty street. In her distraction, the blonde wandered a bit too close to a takoyaki stand and bumped into a patron leaving the establishment.

Before the blonde could react, a knuckled back hand caught her in the cheek and sent her tumbling into the dirt.

"Watch it brat!"

The incensed adult kicked some more dust at the fallen jinchuuriki before stalking away, not sparing another glance at the small form.

Naruto ran a hand over her now bruising cheek, Kurama would take care of it shortly and she barely felt the pain. Slowly, the girl sat up and brushed some of the dirt and dust from her clothes. She hissed slightly at the grit being rubbed into the scrape on her knee, cursing not for the first time, the soft baby skin still covering this body.

Eventually getting her feet back in under her, Naruto brushed off her shorts and looked up and down the street only to freeze.

Shikamaru was standing a few shops down, Chouji by his side munching on his ever-present chips. The Nara's face looked murderous, leaving little doubt that he had seen the entire altercation. His fists were balled tight at his side, knuckles white. His jaw muscles were jumping furiously as he fought with himself not to react. Naruto could see his pulse jumping in his neck from where she stood as a shame filled blushed crept up her own cheeks while moisture gathered in her eyes.

She gave him an almost imperceptible shake of her head before turning around and sprinting off in the opposite direction.

With any luck, Zetsu would assume that she was embarrassed that a peer had witnessed her abuse and not that there was anything between her and Shikamaru. The bastard had been watching from a tree at an angle where the young Nara should have been hidden anyway.

o-

Four weeks after Zetsu's arrival Naruto awoke from the first peaceful sleep that he -she- had had in a month. Naruto rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she tried to figure out why it felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest. Her senses spread out over the village imperceptivity, then into the forest beyond. Out and out it stretched, covering almost half the fire nation before it stopped; the past month had done wonders for her range. With a jolt the blonde sprang into a sitting position eyes wide and a smile bright enough to blot out the sun crossed her face.

Zetsu was **gone.** GONE. Gone, _gone_ , gone. Naruto paused for another moment just to be sure of the fact before shooting out of bed and hastily shoving some clothes on before bolting out through her window.

They were free!

Naruto careened through the streets almost crashing into a cabbage merchant just setting up his cart in her haste to get to the Nara estate. The girl thumped down in the back yard of the main house and flew through the veranda door, rushing to get to Shikamaru.

Said brunet was listlessly eating his breakfast with his parents when the blonde whirlwind entered the room and knocked him off his chair. He was disoriented for a moment with a lapful of wiggling Uzumaki but finally came to his senses as the girl started peppering his face with kisses.

"Nikko-chan?"

"He's gone Shika! He left!" Naruto sat on top of him beaming and his face broke out into a similar smile.

"Really?!" Shikamaru sat up as well, tipping the excited blonde and causing him to catch her with his arms to settle her in his lap. At her frantic nod, the youngest Nara crushed the girl to him as he buried his face into her shoulder, the stress from the last month draining out of him at last. "Thank Kami."

Small hands traced soothing patterns on his back as Naruto returned the embrace.

Still seated above their heads, Yoshino and Shikaku exchanged an amused but relieved glance. The past month had been difficult for everyone.

Team Seven's reunion later that day was slightly tearful. Sakura was crying freely as she wrapped herself around the shaky Uzumaki. Sasuke attempted to hang back but the ever-strong arm of his tiny wife dragged him into the group hug. And if his grip was tighter around the pair than necessary, no one said a word.

Days in pigtails: 89

Naruto catching missions: 9

Jonin's promoted: 3

* * *

 _Present Day, 11 Months in New Timeline:_

"Everything looks great, Yoshino-san! Would you like to know the sex of the baby?" Sakura said brightly, green glowing hands making one last pass over the Nara matriarchs small baby bump.

"That's all right, we want it to be a surprise. Thank you." Yoshino smiled and sat up on the couch as Sakura wrote her findings in her custom sealed notebook.

The girl laughed slightly, "I suppose you know that already though but Shikamaru wanted me to check as well."

Yoshino hummed in agreement and looked out the doors to the verandah, both Naruto and her son were sitting on the grass. The blonde girl passing blue glowing hands over her sons face and chest, writing notes in her own notebook. She shook her head and looked back to the pink haired girl across from her.

"You were Tsunade-hime's apprentice, right?" She probed gently. After the havoc that had caused Naruto-chan to stay away for weeks a month ago it had taken the children a while to get back into the swing of things. Her son had wanted the girl to meet with her weeks ago but hadn't been able to make it happen until today, something about altering the seals.

The girl's green eyes found her own as she closed her notebook.

"Yes. Shishou taught me everything she knew." Sakura paused, not sure how in depth to go but wanting Yoshino to feel confident in her abilities, "I was in training to take over as head medic at the hospital before everything went pear shaped."

Yoshino's eyes widened, she found it hard to remember sometimes that her son and his companions had been so accomplished when she had only ever seen them as the children they were right now.

"That's impressive for one so young, your parents must have been proud."

A light blush travelled across Sakura's cheeks at the praise but the skin around eyes and lips tightened and a faraway look settled in her gaze, "Yes… Not as proud as my boys though."

At Yoshino's questioning gaze sakura elaborated, "Sasuke-kun, Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei." The girl shook her head free of memories and smiled as she stood up, cutting off the conversation.

"Thank you for letting me check you over, Yoshino-san. I'll be back in two weeks if that's okay?"

"Of course, Haruno-san. Sure you don't want to stay for dinner?"

The girl shook her head as she waved goodbye to the two still seated in the grass before heading for the front door and applying a henge. "Uchiha, please…" Sakura corrected gently, "And thank you very much for the offer, Yoshino-san, but I have to decline. Sasuke-kun is waiting for me."

The Nara matriarch smiled and opened the door for the now nondescript middle aged brunette, "My apologies. Next time then."

"Next time."

o-

Dinner that night was a content, quiet affair with conversation flowing easily around the table. However, towards the end of the meal, Naruto grew serious. There was something that needed to be brought up.

"I need access to Orochimaru's research and reference materials."

Movement around the table stopped as three pairs of eyes turned to look at her.

"Between the Uchiha and Nara archives I have almost a complete picture of what's going on but, there is still something missing." Naruto took a breath, "Part of my original seal is based in the Edo Tensei. Orochimaru worked on perfecting it for years. Not to mention the curse seal. I believe that there is something in there that I can use."

Slowly, Shikaku set down his chopsticks and closed his eyes with a sigh. "Those documents are held within the Hokage's classified archives in the Hokage tower. Plus, those particular documents are kept in a sealed chest to prevent anyone from opening them." The elder Nara opened his eyes only to see twin smirks from his son and pseudo daughter-in-law.

Shikamaru snorted at his father's raised eyebrow. "Naruto broke in the archive the first time around at the age of twelve and stole the forbidden scroll. That's where she first learnt about shadow clones."

"I see." Came the tense reply, would these kids ever stop surprising him? "However, the forbidden scroll is less guarded than Orochimaru's documents. To maintain your cover and not cause an intervillage incident, absolutely no one can become even the slightest bit aware that you -whether they know it's you or not- have been in there. Which means you can't remove anything from the archive. You'll have to copy everything."

"Yeah, an increased threat level for the village would certainly change things in ways we can't predict." Shikamaru agreed, lips setting into a thin line.

"Sounds like you need a distraction." Yoshino chimed in, as if what they were discussing wasn't technically treason.

Upon hearing her words, Naruto's face broke into a wicked grin, "Oh, I can do a distraction."

Days in pigtails: 103

Naruto catching missions: 10

Jonin's promoted: 4

* * *

 _Present Day, 1 Year in New Timeline:_

' _There, all done.'_ The Naruto clone smirked as she lowered herself to the ground. It had taken a while to get everything set up to accomplish this prank/operation.

The blonde clone looked proudly up at her masterpiece, all forty feet of it extending across the Hokage tower.

There, laid out in full colour, was an obnoxiously painted image of the Sandaime eagerly reading the newest Icha Icha novel accompanied by a glowing five-star review, purportedly written by the Hokage himself.

The time travelling Uzumaki cackled as the first rays of dawn struck the top of his -her- beautiful creation. She had used a nasty paint mixed with a glow in the dark stain abomination that Sakura cooked up for her. Even if they managed to scrub off the paint by nightfall it would still glow like festival lights for nearly a week before the weather fully erased the image.

The Naruto clone gave herself a mental pat on the back as she heard someone raising the alarm. They had finally noticed her efforts. Turning quickly, she raced towards the river knowing that they would soon be on her tail.

' _That should give boss more than enough time to complete the mission and get out of there.'_ The clone mused, turning into a blur of blonde hair and paint spatters.

o-

The undercover Uzumaki swallowed labouriously, frantically copying the contents of the scroll in front of him alongside half a dozen clones.

She had henged into the adult male version of herself -sans whiskers- hoping to confuse anyone just in case. It felt… weird. He -she- expected to feel normal, _finally,_ after a year of living as a prepubescent girl, but she didn't. If anything, he -she- felt just as awkward as she did for the first few weeks of being here. What did _that_ mean?

The blonde shook her head, now wasn't the time to be asking philosophical questions.

He -she- had been here for almost four hours now, the sun would be rising at any minutes and the still had two full scrolls to copy.

Cursing, the jinchuuriki created two more clones to help, making the space even more cramped. How she wished that Sai was here, the copying would have been done hours ago.

She hurriedly abandoned her spot a moment later to a clone as the warning bells sounded throughout the village.

' _Just on time.'_

Her second watcher clone had dispelled outside, letting the rest of them know that the on-duty shinobi had taken the bait.

Naruto quickly looked once again through the discarded scrolls, making sure that she had gotten anything even remotely relevant. With a satisfied nod, the blonde began piling the notes and materials back into the box. Behind her, the half dozen clones finished their copying and dispelled themselves. All that remained was for the Uzumaki to seal up the copied scrolls into a storage scroll of her own and reseal the containment chest.

The blonde cast a sweep gaze around the room to ensure everything was just as she had found it when a steel glint caught her eye from a low shelf.

The glint was out of place in the room full of scrolls, texts, and tapestries. Naruto decided to indulge in her curiosity for a moment and knelt down. On that low shelf, in a dusty wooden box with the lid slightly ajar, were three tri-tipped kunai; Hiraishin seal still attached to the handles.

' _Tou-san's kunai!'_ She was shocked, she hadn't gotten the chance to see one before (barring in the middle of battle) and no one seemed to have record of the seal. Not to mention that any attempt on her behalf to create it from scratch had failed. (She'd only put a handful of hours into it in the past-future though- she had been busy)

' **Are you going to take it, kit?'** Kurama intoned from the back of her mind.

Naruto reverently stroked the handle of the blade closest to her, _'I can't they would notice if I took anything.'_

The beast shifted impatiently, **'What did you just spend the last four and a half hours doing?'**

She could have smacked herself. Quickly, she carefully unwrapped the seal from the handle and unraveled her storage scroll to a blank section. The blonde furiously scribbled down the astonishingly simply seal – really, who would have thought to say that space was the thing that was moving? -

' **Now's not the time to marvel, kit. I'd say you have less than five minutes before the record keeper shows up for the morning check, regardless of your distraction.'**

The jinchuuriki cursed and rolled up the scroll, then tucked the seal back around the handle and set the box back the way it had been.

For the last time, Naruto swept the room and disengaged the warding she had set up before slipping out the door.

A moment later he -she- touched down in an ally just out of view from the Hokage tower and henged into a generic looking civilian.

Mission Complete.

Days in pigtails: 115

Naruto catching missions: 10

Jonin's promoted: 4

* * *

 _Present Day, 1 Year 1 Month in New Timeline:_

November rain fell outside of the Nara household causing the Saturday afternoon to look dull and miserable. However, they had selected this particular day for Sasuke to attempt reverse summoning himself a couple of weeks ago and the Uchiha wasn't about to let a bit of weather deter him.

The time travelling quartet had decided to do the summoning using the Nara's backyard. It was closer to the hospital should something go horribly wrong and Naruto could set up stronger wards using a building to anchor to.

Sasuke had been gone to the summons' world for about an hour now and everyone was working on their own projects.

Naruto huffed and ran a hand through her already spikey nest of hair, it was shorter than it had been for a while, cut to fall just below her chin. A similar groan and sounded from her two shadow clones littered across the veranda, each working on a separate project.

In front of the original was her highest priority seal work, the design for Shikamaru's soul stitch seal. Yes, she had already named it. No, it wasn't anywhere close to being complete. The work in front of her was some of the most complex and delicate seal work she had ever attempted to accomplish. Storing a soul was one thing, but stitching one together- Naruto shook her head and sighed again in frustration, barriers were her thing. What had happened before was a stroke of luck, desperation, and circumstance that allowed her to create the soul seal. Even the time travel seal, created by her and Kurama, was fueled by a desolation and anguish so sharp and fading that it was becoming increasingly more difficult to remember as the days passed. All she was left with was her own guile and stubbornness.

"Gah! Nature chakra!" Clone A shouted a few moments later. "Boss! The thing we are missing is nature chakra, that's the missing piece!"

The original looked up sharply and rushed to the clone. She grabbed the papers out of the clones extended hand and groaned. The clone had been working on her anti-Zetsu barrier seal. His unique body chemistry and blend of Hashirama DNA posed a difficult challenge to circumvent. He could sense any normal blend of chakra, including elemental and bijuu in origin, that flowed through her seals.

Naruto's blue eyes flew over the notes and calculations. It was all theoretical; based on numerous conversations and hypothesizing with all three of her compatriots but something told her – an instinct of some sort that had overcome her before when she found her solution – this would work. A leaf cannot tell where the wind started to blow.

The Uzumaki let out a slow breath and sank to her knees, dispelling the clone along the way. Her head throbbed; she hated using clones for seal work due to the information overload but it was effective.

"Boss?" Clone B massaged a temple, feeling the effects.

Naruto simply flapped a hand and it also dispelled, remnants of the Hiraishin deconstruction simply adding to her cranial pressure.

An unexpected tendril of shadow wrapped itself around her middle and dragged her over to where Shikamaru and his father were playing shogi. The shadow deposited her sideways into her lover's lap while one arm tucked her head into his shoulder, fingers running through her hair while his other arm moved a piece forward on the game board. She tensed at first but at Shikaku's complete non-reaction Naruto allowed herself to relax; she had thought enough for today.

While Naruto and her boys were on the veranda, Yoshino placed a fresh cup of tea down in front of Sakura and took her own to her seat. The pink haired girl muttered a thank you and finished writing her entry notes in her notebook.

Sakura took a sip of the tea before speaking, "How are feeling, Yoshino-san?"

The Nara rubbed a spot on the side of her belly, the baby was kicking again. "Aside from constantly needing to use the bathroom… I'm feeling pretty good, Uchiha-san."

Sakura smiled, the Nara matriarch had now entered her third trimester and seemed to be doing better than most. "Good, good. Do you feel like you're progressing at the same rate as when you had Shikamaru? If you can remember, I know it's been a long time."

Yoshino's eyes were warm at the question, "It's been over eleven years, but I think you always remember your first." She didn't miss the way Sakura's eyes tightened, it had happened several times since they had started meeting two months ago. For now, she ignored it, "I've gained a touch more weight but this little one is more active than Shikamaru-chan was. Even in the womb that boy was lazy."

Sakura laughed lightly and proceeded through the checkup, passing glowing hands over the now pronounced baby bump. She concentrated for several moments, checking every tiny bone and blood vessel. This baby would be a smart one too judging by the currently forming brain connections. She ignored a Naruto sounding yell from the veranda as she opened her eyes and ended the technique.

"Everything looks good. You can sit up now." Sakura returned to her notebook on the loveseat as Yoshino picked her tea back up. "Sure you still want to be surprised?"

The younger girl wasn't looking at her as she asked her question. Yoshino narrowed her eyes, tired of dancing around the subject; she had asked at every checkup.

"Sakura-" The girl looked up sharply as her given name with a lack of suffix was used, "Can you henge into your adult self for me? I'd like to talk to you as the equals we are, please."

Sakura fidgeted before conceding, she had hoped -apparently in vain- that Yoshino wouldn't catch on. A moment later a much taller young lady sat in her seat, complete with Hyakugou seal and Uchiha clan symbol on her clothes.

"Thank you," Yoshino smiled, "Now, why did you agree with Shikamaru to check me over when it causes you pain? And why do you want me to know the baby's sex so badly?"

Sakura sighed and looked down at her hands thoughtfully before straightening her spine to look Yoshino right in the eyes. "I want to check you over, Yoshino-san. Don't think I don't, I was the one to offer when Shikamaru told us the news. It's just…" She faltered again, passing a hand over her own belly.

Yoshino's eyes widened at the implication and she hurried over to Sakura as fast as her own seventh month pregnant body would allow. "Oh sweetie…" She wrapped an arm around the girl and pulled her in close, "I'm so sorry."

Sakura shook her head in a jolting motion and let out a sad shaky laugh, "I was four months along when Kaguya returned, barely showing…" She ran a hand over her face, trying to stay composed, "It was the shock and the stress- I just remember being so excited because we finally found out the sex…"

They sat there for a long moment, Yoshino slowly rubbing Sakura's arm as the younger woman calmed down again.

"About three years after Shikamaru was born," The Nara matriarch began, "We attempted for another however… It wasn't meant to be. After almost two years we finally succeeded but, then we didn't; I was two months in and we hadn't even told Shikamaru-chan yet, he still has no idea. We stopped trying after that."

Sakura looked up at her in slight awe and gratitude, this was a rather painful subject for anyone. Before she could speak, Yoshino gave her a smile and took Sakura's hand in her own. She placed it on her protruding belly over where the baby was kicking.

"This little one is thanks to you four, you know. What you went through was beyond comprehension, but you are still so strong Sakura. And this is a second chance not just for everyone else but for you as well, sweetie. For you and Sasuke, and for Shikamaru and Naruto. Thank you."

Moisture gathered in Sakura's eyes but a hopeful smile spread across her face. She squeezed Yoshino's hand in both of hers, "Thank you, Yoshino-san. We're so lucky to have you. You and Shikaku both. It's been wonderful how supportive you've been, it means so much; to Shikamaru and Naruto especially." Yoshino smiled and squeezed back.

Meanwhile, with a soft poof and a muffled groan, Sasuke returned to the Nara estate. Blood spilled from beneath the fingers pressed to his side as he collapsed painfully into the wet grass. The summon scroll was signed.

Days in pigtails: 128

Naruto catching missions: 10

Jonin's promoted: 4

* * *

 **A/N:** Once again an emotion filled chapter with many things going on. But Itachi is coming soon if anyone is looking forward to that.

How is everyone with the pace now? Slow down, speed up, just right? More character interactions outside of the main four, less? More info on their training perhaps? Let me know what you'd like to see, I have lots of wiggle room right now.

As always, thanks for reading!


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